(FreedomBeacon.com)- Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent aggressive action taken against Ukraine, including sending 150,000 of his troops to neighboring Crimea, might be a sign that he is losing his grip on power – at least, according to the new chief of Britain’s foreign intelligence service.
Richard Moore, the new head of MI6, said that the “reckless” actions of Russia and the worsened tensions with Ukraine is worrying. He also referred to the news that Czech authorities discovered that Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, was behind explosions at a Czech ammunitions depot in 2014.
“When you get that pattern of reckless behaviour, of course you then look at what is happening around Ukraine and of course it worries us,” Moore said during an interview with Times Radio on Sunday.
Moore said that even as Russia increases its military presence in Crimea and on the eastern border of Ukraine, it could be a sign that Russia’s leader is losing his grip on power and is using military intervention and heightened tensions with the West to maintain his control. He also argued that Russia itself is losing its power on the global stage.
“Russia is an objectively declining power economically and demographically,” he explained.
“It is an extremely challenged place. And clearly the treatment of Alexei Navalny, as we saw with the thousands of protesters on the streets of … a number of cities, shows that there is a deal of disaffection with Mr Putin.”
Moore’s comments were surprising as no head of MI6, which is the British equivalent of the CIA, has ever given a broadcast interview before.
Moore is the 17th head of the agency in 112 years, and is the only member of the agency whose name is made public. MI6 also did not officially exist until 1992.
His concerns that Russia is lashing out as it loses global influence seem to ring true, too, with news released on Monday that the country had successfully tested a ballistic missile that they say can “blast US space weapons to smithereens.”
🇷🇺The #Russia|n military conducted a test launch of a new anti-missile missile defense system at a site in #Kazakhstan.
The missile is speculated to be the 14Ts033 "Nudol” which can intercept inter-continental ballistic missile as well as knock down satellites in low earth orbit. pic.twitter.com/F4qOOLviWc— 🆁🅰🅶🅴🆇 (@theragex) April 26, 2021
Polish defence minister Mariusz Blaszczack shares the same concerns as Britain’s Moore, telling Polish Radio 24 that, “undoubtedly, the policy of President Putin is aimed at the reconstruction of the Russian empire.”
President Putin might be losing grip in power globally, but Russia’s military assets certainly look…scary.
