‘Only a Matter of Time’ Before NATO Enters Ukraine, Says Analyst
01:43 GMT 02.04.2024 (Updated: 02:36 GMT 02.04.2024)
© AP Photo / HIDAJET DELIC
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On Sunday, members of the Russian 9th Brigade raised a flag on a northwestern building in Pervomaiskoye, confirming Russian control over most of the village and marking further Russian advances west of Avdeyevka.
As the situation becomes more desperate for Ukraine, it is only a matter of time before NATO troops start operating “openly” in the country, security and international relations analyst Mark Sleboda told Sputnik’s Fault Lines on Monday. He also predicted that Ukraine will resort to more terror attacks as its troops are forced to step back.
“I think as their desperation grows and Russia’s advances on the battlefield come faster, with more casualties on the Kiev regime side and far fewer casualties on the Russian side,” Sleboda explained. “They will grow more desperate and more panicked and they will continue to do more, shall we say, unconventional, dirty things like terror attacks.”
“Eventually, I'm positive we are going to see NATO member state troops openly–under flag–on Ukrainian soil. I think it’s just a matter of time.”
The comment came as Sleboda and co-hosts Jamarl Thomas and Melik Abdul were discussing the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack that Russia blames on the Ukrainian domestic intelligence organization the SBU.
Sleboda pointed out that while Ukraine has not accepted responsibility for the attack, they have recently admitted to nearly every recent terrorist attack against Russia that they previously denied.
“[Head of Security Service of Ukraine] Vasyl Malyuk, he admitted, he flat out spoke on Ukrainian TV that yes, we, we did this, we did this… basically everything except for Crocus, they’re basically admitting now. The unwilling suicide bombing attack on the Kerch bridge to Crimea as well,” Sleboda explained. “They admitted to all of these, and these are acts of terrorism, of state terrorism.”
On Ukrainian television last week, Malyuk said during an hour-long interview with Ukrainian media that “Officially, we will not admit to this…” and then went on to describe details of numerous assassinations, including military blogger Vladen Tatarsky, who was killed in a terrorist bombing of a crowded cafe in St Petersburg and former Ukrainian member of parliament Ilya Kyva.
Russian officials have demanded that Malyuk be handed over by authorities in Kiev for the Crocus terrorist attack.
Sleboda noted that Russia seems to be in the process of dismantling an international terrorist network.
“Within Russia, people continue to be detained,” and then possibly charged, Sleboda described. “Russia has evidently also contacted the Turkish government, which has detained several dozen people, I believe, outside Istanbul and it is believed that they have been detained.” Sleboda added that there are “unconfirmed reports” that there was “some kind of training center” outside of Istanbul.
However, even if the SBU is successful in launching more terrorist attacks, it won’t stop the Russian advance.
“Nothing will hold permanently. After Avdeyevka, they lost the first defensive line they were hastily trying to erect in the next series of three towns within a few days,” Sleboda said, explaining the situation in the Donetsk region. “A little further back, they managed to hold a defensive line for a month. But all those towns but one have been overrun, and the last town, I think they hold a few buildings in Berdychi, in the area west of Avdeyevka.”
After mentioning other Russian victories in the heavily fortified towns in the Donetsk region, including Novomikhailovka and Pervomaiskoye, Sleboda noted that Western media has been unable to ignore the reality. “I think the first time I’ve seen it in print by a British journalist, very anti-Russian, Iain Martin, ‘It’s time we talked about the fall of Kyiv.’”
#UkraineRussiaWar
— Military Summary (@MilitarySummary) April 1, 2024
🌐 Place: #Pervomaiske
🕰 Date: ~31.03.2024
📌 Coordinates: 48.104912,37.590666
👩🚀 Squad: #9Brig
📝 Description: The Russian military planted a flag in the northern part of Pervomaiske.
🖥 id: 01042024.0938
✉️source: https://t.co/wVyIRI5oJY
Map: Military… pic.twitter.com/4jPs7FKHJ0
Asked about French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments that he may send troops into Ukraine in the Odessa region. “This is being batted around in the Russian analyst and commentary circles on the conflict is that all these security guarantees, documents that were signed with Kiev by numerous countries,” Sleboda began, referring to the Kiev regime signing security guarantees with France, Canada, Italy, Germany, the UK, and Denmark. “[They] were mainly about supply of arms and training and intelligence and things like that. But, they also [it is rumored] held secret clauses, basically dividing up responsibility for physically maintaining the territory of the Kiev regime in different areas of the country. For instance, Odessa fell within the area of France’s purview.”
