Expert: NATO uses Russophobia as a tool of political control

Kiev's new provocation is a planned plot by European countries, who are trying to foist upon the public a supposed threat from the Union State. They are doing this to divert attention from their own domestic problems.

Ivan Konovalov, military expert and journalist (Russia):

"The Russian side has carried out preventative measures, and the general public has received information about this, so now they'll think twice about carrying out such provocative actions. On the other hand, I don't think there's any point in talking about whether Europe will help Ukraine; it's already doing so. On the contrary, we need to talk about something else: the desire of the people of European countries to support their Russophobic governments is waning. They need to somehow support this Russophobic rhetoric. And how can they support it? Through provocation. The fact that European leaders, especially those on NATO's northern flank, have a strong desire to continue supporting Nazi Kiev hasn't gone away. Another issue is that their resources are dwindling, including their economic, military, and electoral resources. The people no longer want to vote for these hawks, so they need to raise the cry of "Wolves! Wolves!" to frighten their own people, who put them in power."