Thread by @VolodyaTretyak

PART 6 (the last one) of the interview with gen. Kryvonos made by Mark Solonin and translated by me.
Topic: Why did Putin start the war?
Original video:


The full text is also available in a pinned thread or at @wartranslated: wartranslated.com/big-interview-…

The link to a pinned thread is here. There is also some information about Kryvonos' background and views, as there are many questions about those.

https://twitter.com/VolodyaTretyak/status/1553422810424524804?s=20&t=LMn0c8tRFqScdq68AzCK6A

/1

Translation:

(I): We've had a lot of conversations already. But what a normal, peace-loving country, an ordinary, peace-loving people, was not going to. For 30 years, they didn't prepare for war with their neighbor. /2

I know it offends many people, but they have a shared history, religion, and a lot of personal family ties. It is just normal behavior for ordinary people. But the last question I wanted to ask you does not belong to the military specifics. /3

It's just a question from person to person. Do you understand at all? I do not know why Putin - the collective Putin - his company has arranged this. /4

As a matter of fact, well, you know, on the eve of the war, I thought that they were bluffing; I was wrong in this, but my opinion was based on the fact that I did not see then and now do not see any problem, and for the solution that Putin had a rational sense to get into… /5

…the war. War is always a huge, gigantic multi-billion dollar expenditure. So it's always a risk. Even from his point of view, it is a risk.

Anything happens in war. What did Russia do it? I don't understand. I don't know why they did it. /6

So what did Putin and his company, his entourage, lack? Do you have any answers for yourself? Do you understand that answer?

(K): Yes. Unfortunately, I do. The answer won't be short. We'll have to have a long conversation. So here goes. /7

Let's analyze all the strategic exercises of the Russians over the last 20 years. The bulk of these exercises has been conducted along the Ukrainian-Russian border. /8

The first issue the Russians have always practiced in these exercises has always been the redeployment of troops. And we have to give credit for that: they have polished it perfectly. /9

Even from the Far East, they quickly redeployed equipment and people; I say this as a military man. Once again, I will emphasize that it is necessary to assess the enemy correctly. Therefore they worked out this variant. What is the next thing? /10

The second thing is that their defense industrial complex was not destroyed and was working actively. We have to understand it, too. /11

But an enemy has always been identified in the history of the Russian state, whether during the tsar's time, during the Soviet Union, or now under Putin. So the enemy prevents Russia from living happily. /12

One has created a false image, which has constantly distracted people from the problems in Russia: "the Englishwoman ruined things, the German ruined things, the Finns disturbed us, and someone else disturbed us." /13

Accordingly, here too, when the top of the Russian Federation enriches itself and rips off its people. When people still do not know what hot water is, and sometimes even what a washing machine or a microwave oven is in the house. Accordingly, there must be someone to blame. /14

When billionaires order oysters, which arrive by plane from the Mediterranean Sea to Moscow, and someone is happy with a piece of bread and a sausage, at best, a sausage, sometimes just with a bit of bread. So you have to create an image of an enemy who is to blame. /15

They ask, "And why do we live so badly?" Why being the biggest oil and gas tycoons in the European market, we all still live so badly. So, this is one of the factors in creating the image of the enemy. /16

Using information, they shaped this image of the enemy beautifully and artificially. I have always said that Russian propaganda has achieved great things working with its people. /17

Television in the country Russians has learned to zombify and sacredly create an image that has never existed for a long time. There was no aggression from the Ukrainians, no aggression from the Russians. There wasn't. /18

The Ukrainians wanted to live their lives, and they absolutely did not want to meddle in the affairs of the Russians.

(I): After even, excuse me, 2014-2015, there was no such aggressive mood among the people. They were completely calm. /19

Now, of course, everything has changed after so many civilian deaths. So I'm sorry for interrupting.

(K): Yes, of course. So everything is simple — the existence of an independent and quite successful Ukraine. /20

There were nuances, but all the same, living in Ukraine was much better, freer. Not to mention the political freedoms, where everyone was free to express their point of view in Ukraine. At that time, there was no censorship, neither political nor any other. /21

So, a bad example from Putin's point of view could lead to the fact that people in Russia will start to think, "Why do they live better, and we live worse?" So Putin has set himself the goal of Ukraine and not only Ukraine. /22

This is his manic idea, as many say, and his thoughts, the creation of a powerful Russian or a powerful Russian empire of a new type. The Fourth Rome, as they called it in the borders of the tsarist empire model of 1914. /23

This was evident in the sentiments of Russian and pro-Russian Ukrainians.
And I remember a conversation in 2011 when one of the pro-Russian comrades said that we should bring Ukraine back into the fold of The Russian Empire. /24

He said, "Forty million intelligent, literate Slavs is a big chunk of young blood into the dying body of the Russian Federation". /25

And if we want to create a new Russian Federation, a new empire, we have to bring all the former vassals, as he said, back into the bosom of our country of empire. So this, too, is one of the factors that I think has a right to exist. It is that. /26

Seriously tighten up all those who left once.
We know very well and have heard Putin say more than once that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a big mistake. And Putin sees NATO as enemy number one and cannot have it any other way. /27

If he says that NATO is our friend and we are doing well, some Russians will start asking questions. We remember the unrest in the Russian Federation, and it was frequent. So why do we live worse? /28

While the potential of the raw materials that we sell abroad, we have much more. Therefore, so these questions do not arise, creating an image of the enemy is necessary. /29

And when you are at war, all your misfortunes are the enemy's fault, and you have no right to your own opinion because there is a war, and you must endure it. /30

You may well remember Medvedev's phrase: "There's no money, but you take care," which is just one example of this approach. They consider their people cattle, but they realize that cattle can get smarter. That's why they need to make them go to war. /31

And the war is usually fought by some of the most active segments of the population. So it's better to let them die in the war, and there will be less. Then there will be more inside Russia. And all the rest will keep quiet, like, excuse me, enslaved people. /32

(I): So recycling the passionate part of the population is a sensible move.

(K): Of course, and the passionate part of the population, both on the Ukrainian side and inside Russia. /33

That is, they solved the problem of fewer active Ukrainians, who were quite aggressive towards Russia, and the problem of their people. /34

(I): So it turns out that he (Putin - remark) doesn't eat soap (not sure what this idiom means, maybe Putin is not punished for what he is saying - remark). I see. Thank you, Sergei Grigorievich. Both for the detailed answer to this question and the fascinating conversation. /35

I apologize for taking up a little more time than we had agreed. Thank you very much. I wish you every success, both to you personally and to the armed forces with which you remain associated. Thank you very much. I hope to see you again. /36

(K): Thank you. All the best. Everything will be Ukraine. /37

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end /38

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