Kremlin Responds To Ukraine Intel Chief's Threat To "Kill Russians Anywhere"
Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, in an interview with Yahoo News published Friday addressed the recent string of assassinations and cross-border attacks on Russian territory.
In reference to the August car bombing death of Daria Dugina (Yahoo underscored in its lead-in that "U.S. intelligence has attributed Dugina’s killing to the Ukrainian government"), Gen. Budanov offered the following ultra-provocative statement:
"we’ve been killing Russians and we will keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world until the complete victory of Ukraine."
He seemed to be owning up to Ukraine being behind the assassinations. What Russia calls "terrorism, we call liberation," he had said when asked whether Kiev was behind the attacks, which also included the April cafe bombing and death of Russian blogger Vladlen Tatarsky.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blasted the threatening remarks, calling them "truly heinous" while "vigorously" condemning them. In the Monday response, Peskov said, "What Budanov said is a direct confirmation that the Kiev regime isn’t only sponsoring terrorist activity, but is a direct organizer of this activity."
He further emphasized that Russia's own secret services "will be doing everything that they should be doing against the background of such statements."
"It’s very difficult to imagine that such terrorist statements from Kiev will remain without condemnation. Therefore, today we will be waiting for these condemnations," he followed with, in reference to the international community.
But the White House has remained mum on the emerging covert 'dirty war' targeting Russian officials and 'pro-Russia' journalists and mere activists, and may even be assisting with intelligence and planning for such operations. Moscow has leveled this charge precisely. None of those killed so far have actually been Kremlin decision-makers, but are civilians...
Over the past year, in Russia, there were the assassinations of Daria Dugina, Vladlen Tatarsky, and today—an attempt on the life of author Zachary Prilepin. All were bombings, all linked to Ukraine. None of these targets are decision-makers, but rather opinion-makers.
— Nina 🐙 Byzantina (@NinaByzantina) May 6, 2023
Russia’s Security Service (FSB) has said Tatarsky's assassination was the work of "Ukrainian special services and their agents, including fugitive members of the Russian opposition."
On Saturday, one of Russia's best-known novelists, Zakhar Prilepin, was targeted in a car bombing near the city of Nizhny Novgorod. He survived the attack which took place on a highway when a device under his car detonated, but his driver was killed.
