Vladimir Putin is set on a “big war” against NATO, according to a top Russian political scientist.
He wants to begin by absorbing both Ukraine and Moldova, and then conquer eastern Europe by restoring an Iron Curtain spanning the continent, Professor Grigory Yudin said.
In a sinister forecast, he told the YouTube show CivilNet that he sees “the entire eastern Europe” as his “fiefdom”.
He does not think the major Western countries will fight to save Poland and Lithuania.
“We must free ourselves of the illusion that this is a war between Russia and Ukraine from [Kremlin] leadership’s point of view,” he said.
“The Russian leadership doesn’t believe Ukraine exists.
“It is impossible to fight what doesn’t exist….
“[To them] the war in Ukraine is really against the West.”
This is their “consistent point of view, but not something to reveal to the public.”
Putin and his entourage see the war in Ukraine as “against the West” - and intend it to go wider.
NATO should be pushed back from countries like Poland and Lithuania which were once in the USSR or its Warsaw Pact sphere of influence.
“So this is the minimal theatre of war,” he said, with Moldova immediately vulnerable.
"The entire Eastern Europe - Vladimir Putin considers his fiefdom.
“Already in the current military operation’s plan is the taking of Moldova….”
Predicting Putin’s readiness for a “big war”, he said: “They cannot reach it yet due to not being technically prepared
“But Moldova is there [in the plans] without any doubt…”
He stressed in an interview with presenter Arshaluis Mgdesyan that if the Russian leadership continues according to its scenario “we will inevitably see the war in all these territories [of eastern Europe] - and possibly even further.”
It is a war that “was long considered inevitable by Russian military and political leadership”.
He earlier predicted Putin would order a general mobilisation for “the most senseless war in history”.
And he has claimed the Russian dictator is surrounded by “Hitler fans” in his entourage.
Dr Yudin a professor at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences.
