Thread by @SamRamani2

Nikolay Patrushev just published a scarily unhinged interview with Izvestia

A look into the mind of one of Vladimir Putin's more influential advisors /1

Patrushev's interview begins with a discussion of post-Cold War geopolitics

In familiar fashion, he accuses the US and Britain of trying to create a unipolar order and claims that "Anglo-Saxons" are trying to finish the job now by kicking Russia off the UN Security Council /2

Patrushev followed by accusing Western countries of distorting World War II history by framing the Soviet Union as a co-aggressor

He also blasts efforts to conflate Nazi and Communist crimes, which is a criminal offence in Russia /3

Patrushev proceeds to accuse the Anglo-Saxons of trying to revive Neo-Nazi ideology

This is an inheritance from World War II-era Anglo Saxons who financially supported Hitler /4

Patrushev says the Anglo-Saxon powers are implementing McKinder's Heartland theory

A core element of that Heartland theory is to separate Ukraine from Russia in order to dominate Eurasia /5

McKinder's ideology took root after World War II

The US was emboldened by its impunity for nuclear strikes on Japan, and wished to do the same to the Soviet Union and China

NATO expansion is the latest incarnation, which mirror Napoleon, Hitler and Kaiser Wilhelm II /6

Patrushev attributes these aggressive actions to the US's lack of experience with war on its territory since the 1865 Civil War

And he accuses NATO of being a tool of US occupation of Europe with 60,000 US troops /7

Patrushev then pivots to describing US security threats to Russia

He starts with the Anglo-Saxon seizure of Russian Empire gold in the 1920s, then moves to the 1990s Chechen separatism and accuses the West of trying to destabilise Russia by creating "fifth columns" inside it /8

Patrushev accuses the US of "cultural aggression" against Russia, which is front-lined by $800 million in donations from George Soros and information warfare

This is paired with the seizure of Russia's resources including its water which will be shared globally /9

Patrushev finally shares his views on the environment

Energy cooperation with Russia (which is fossil fuel based) somehow is Europe's only path to avoid environmental destruction

This is his response to Germany closing nuclear plants /10

Aside from a rant about the superiority of Russia's Christian civilisation, Patrushev concludes with this:

Yellowstone Volcano will erupt, Eastern Europe and Siberia will be the only safe places. This is why the US needs to control Heartland Eurasia /11

You can read the interview in Russian here. A reminder that realist impulses do not guide thinking inside the Kremlin about vital security issues iz.ru/1504870/viktor…