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Russia Stands Alone with Security Service Rule, Historian Claims
Riga, Latvia – Russia is uniquely positioned globally with its security service effectively in control of the nation, a situation unprecedented in modern history, according to historian Yuri Felshtinsky. In a recent interview with LSM.lv, Felshtinsky asserted that the Federal Security Service (FSD) operates without political oversight, directly under the authority of President Putin, who he describes as intrinsically linked to the agency.
“We know monarchs, dictators, presidents, juntas, political parties – but when the Security Service controls the country – we have never encountered this in history,” Felshtinsky stated. He further explained that the FSD doesn’t operate within budgetary constraints,rather having access to “all the resources of the Russian Federation.”
Felshtinsky argues this unchecked power dynamic fuels Russia’s aggressive foreign policy. “This is also the reason why this dangerous situation has arisen where these people who came to power to expand their control, they use aggression,” he said, citing Russia’s military interventions in Georgia in 2008, Ukraine in 2014, adn the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 as examples.
Despite Russia’s ongoing military actions, Felshtinsky believes a complete conquest of Ukraine is impossible. “Russia has been at war for Donbass as 2014. And they will not be able to conquer it. That is the problem – Putin cannot conquer ukraine. He has not been able to conquer Ukraine,” he emphasized. While acknowledging Russia’s destructive aerial campaign, he contends that modern warfare cannot be won through air power alone, stating, “The war can only be won if Ukraine agrees to capitulate.”
The full interview with Yuri Felshtinsky is available to watch here: https://replay.lsm.lv/lv/skaties/ieraksts/ltv/366924/11-vesturnieks-jurijs-felstinskis.
