According to Moscow, Russia’s defense minister called his opposite number at the Pentagon, which halted Ukraine’s assassination plot against Vladimir Putin.
It is claimed that Russian intelligence had discovered a covert operation from Kyiv to strike the Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg on July 28.
“Uncontrollable Conflict”
According to Russian state television Rossiya 1, an interview with Putin’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov, who described the alleged plot as “madness.”
According to Ryabkov such an attack would have plunged Russia and the United States into an “uncontrollable conflict,” implying a nuclear World War III.
Russian “Intelligence”
Putin, the 71-year-old dictator, and his 65-year-old defense minister Andrei Belousov attended the Navy Day parade.
Based on Russia’s “intelligence,” Moscow had the impression that Ukraine was planning to kill both men.
“Genuinely Tough Conversation”
TV propagandist Olga Skabeeva stated that sixteen days prior to the parade, Belousov called US defense secretary Lloyd Austin for a “genuinely tough conversation.”
“Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov called the Pentagon himself for the first time, and he said something that made US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin squirm. If Kyiv’s operation had happened, it would have guaranteed to plunge Russia and the USA into a phase of uncontrollable conflict.”
Pentagon Denial
Despite the Pentagon’s denials, Russia clearly believed the US was aware of the attack plan and feared it was involved.
However, Ryabkov claims that phone calls were made to Ukraine to halt a covert operation against the Navy Day parade, which Belousov and Putin went to without incident.
“Capitals Under Washington’s Control”
Ryabkov stated, “The signal sent by the Russian side….not just to Washington, but to other capitals under Washington’s control – was received.”
“We avoided a new escalation cycle. But that specific episode is very troubling… It was planned [by Ukraine]….to cause maximum damage and achieve the maximum media effect they needed. We got past that specific episode, thank God, which means that the signal from our military leadership and the defence minister to his American counterpart apparently had an effect.”
Detail Hesitation
Ryabkov didn’t say exactly what the Russian intelligence comprised of or what the suspected strike plan was.
He stated: “I don’t want to go into details, but there was indeed a certain linkage with such events.”
Putin’s ‘Iron Doll’
According to Skabeeva who is also known as Putin’s ‘Iron Doll’: “The details of the audacious action are currently a state secret.”
“At the parade in St. Petersburg after the foiled provocation, Vladimir Putin made a statement that the whole world is discussing.”
“Mirror Measures”
She was alluding to Putin’s very real intention to carry out “mirror measures” assuming the US proceeded with plans to send long-range rockets to Germany from 2026, specifically weapons that could strike the West within ten minutes.
Moscow stated that Belousov and Austin had discussed “the issue of preventing security threats and reducing the risk of possible escalation” during the call on July 12.
Theorized Plans
The release at the time didn’t mention a supposed Ukrainian secret mission.
A hypothesis from Russian Telegram channel Win/Win is that an assault might have involved launching kamikaze ocean drones from a nonpartisan boat in the Baltic.
Military Expert Weighs In
Dmitry Kornev, a military expert from Russia, stated: “Another possibility is a combined attack from both sea and air, which would be the most dangerous.”
“Nothing happened publicly. No changes to the parade programme or regulations were noted by observers. The parade went entirely according to plan.”
Assassination Plot
Kornev went on to state: “If additional security measures were taken, they went unnoticed. We might thank Austin and Belousov for this, or perhaps someone is just playing this card now, which seems unlikely. Most likely, something was indeed planned and did not happen.”
He continued: “An assassination attempt, even if unsuccessful, would have provoked a very sharp response, burning all bridges to potential negotiations and normalising the conflict, putting an end to any aspirations for peace in this situation.”
Regarded Russian editor Alexei Venediktov said the Russians were worried that a Ukrainian plot included an assassination attempt against Putin and his defence minister.
