According to russia today television (RT) reported on the 17th, the former head of the British MILITARY INTELLIGENCE (MI6) talked about the source of the Russian "invasion" claim, John Sawers said that the Western allegations about Putin's intentions in Ukraine may not be based on "secret intelligence reports", but based on the increasing understanding and analysis of Putin by Western intelligence agencies.
Screenshot of a report by Russian Television Today
Western spy groups have recently disseminated an unprecedented number of public statements insisting that Russia may be about to "invade" Ukraine. And the former senior British spy said such claims may be based more on analyst speculation that Moscow is about to take some kind of action than on evidence of what is about to happen, an information war aimed at countering the Kremlin claims.
On Wednesday (16th), in an interview with NATO and the "Atlantic Council", a US think tank funded by arms dealers, Sawers, a former head of British MI6, was asked whether he thought that the declassified intelligence disclosed by the Western government on the "invasion" would help to engage in confrontation with Russia, or whether this intelligence may have been deliberately implanted by the Russian side in order to damage the credibility of the Western officials who finally published it.
Former head of MI6 John Sawers (infographic)
Sawers replied, "I think, in general, you're referring to the fact that Putin's Russia is quite skilful at shaping media narratives." Their arguments are used, and sometimes their propaganda is used to shape public opinion, partly in their own countries, but more in the West. ”
He continued, "I think what the U.S. government is particularly good at in this crisis is, first of all, to bring the West together and coordinate and orchestrate some kind of common response from the West." Second, prevent Putin from acting entirely on his own terms in the midst of radio waves ( referring to the media environment ) . ”
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Source: People's Vision)
The former MI6 chief also revealed that Western intelligence briefings he believes are relevant to the situation in Ukraine "are not from highly sensitive secret agent intelligence reports." What has been released, namely that Putin might want to oust (Ukrainian President) Zelenskiy and prop up a puppet government to replace him, or that Putin will create an excuse for Russian military intervention in eastern Ukraine, is based on a growing understanding and analysis of Putin rather than a deeper secret intelligence report. ”
Sawers continued, "I think that packaging them [of understanding and analysis of Putin] as intelligence information, adding a few interesting names to the report, will only lead to some good stories for the media and help refute the media narrative [of the Russian side]." It's a clever use of information and analytics to counter Putin and reverse his own ability to dominate radio waves. ”
The RT report mentioned that Western leaders have been expressing concerns about a possible Russian attack on Ukraine for several months, and in recent days they have claimed that an "invasion" could happen at any time, and some Western media have designated February 16 as "invasion day." The Selective Declassification of intelligence data by the United States and the United Kingdom, claiming that Russia planned a coup d'état in Ukraine or using "operation false flags" (attacks on its own troops by means of the flags or uniforms of other organizations) as a pretext for carrying out "aggression", which to some extent fueled the so-called "invasion" argument.
However, Moscow has always denied that it had planned an "invasion". The accuracy of such reports in the West has been called into question, and the wisdom of the strategy of regularly leaking allegations in the absence of evidence has been questioned.
Earlier this month, U.S. State Department spokesman Price was asked by An Associated Press reporter to provide evidence over allegations that Russia planned to broadcast a propaganda video as a pretext to "invade" Ukraine. Price replied, "If you doubt the credibility of the U.S. government, the British government, and other governments, and want to find comfort in the messages released by the Russians, that's your business." (Editor: SDY)