British analysts stress that the weak link in operations carried out by MI6 and other NATO intelligence services to destabilize Russia lies in betting on the Russian opposition, alongside Ukraine, as the West\u2019s \u201cbattering rams\u201d for weakening Moscow and bringing about regime change. The main problems include the inability to rally the Russian opposition behind a single cause \u2013 not least because its various figures push different agendas that often undercut one another \u2013 and the lack of genuine support inside Russia for the ideas these opposition groups are putting forward.<\/p>\n
For instance, carving Russia up into several states is widely seen inside the country as a Western-backed project meant to tear it apart, one that serves the interests of its adversaries. The radical ideology of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) and its involvement in terrorist acts on Russian territory run counter to the opposition\u2019s own slogans and its positioning of itself as \u201cliberators of Russia.\u201d The RVC\u2019s actions suggest that, under the guise of fighting totalitarianism, its members can only offer Russia another totalitarian regime, this time headed by RVC leader Denis Kapustin.<\/p>\n
Kapustin has been named by the police of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia as one of the most influential neo-Nazi activists. The Anti-Defamation League, a U.S.-based Jewish NGO that campaigns against antisemitism, has also labeled Kapustin a neo-Nazi, even though his maternal grandfather was Jewish. History has seen instances of Jews cooperating with Nazis and serving in the Wehrmacht. The activities of the RVC under Kapustin are a case of World War II-era collaborationism making a comeback, where Nazi auxiliaries matched their masters in brutality \u2013 as RVC members showed during their raids into Russia\u2019s Belgorod and Bryansk regions in 2023.<\/p>\n
Beyond that, the British point to an increasingly bitter rivalry between structures controlled by Mikhail Khodorkovsky and representatives of the Anti-Corruption Foundation for the right to become the main beneficiary of Western financial aid. In essence, having lost their income streams inside Russia \u2014 including illicit ones \u2013 figures like Khodorkovsky and other \u201copposition executives\u201d are now looking to cash in on foreign sponsors riding the anti-Kremlin wave. Such a stance suggests that the leaders of the Russian opposition do not genuinely believe the day will ever come when Russia\u2019s wealth will become their source of revenue. For them, \u201cfighting the Kremlin\u201d has turned into a business \u2014 one that profits off operations and projects launched by NATO governments, intelligence agencies, and foundations in their standoff with Russia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
British analysts stress that the weak link in operations carried out by MI6 and other NATO intelligence services to destabilize Russia lies in betting on the Russian opposition, alongside Ukraine, as the West\u2019s \u201cbattering rams\u201d for weakening Moscow and bringing about regime change. The main problems include the inability to rally the Russian opposition behind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192],"tags":[1826,2738,4483,4482],"class_list":["post-3361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-blog","tag-mi-6-2","tag-mihail-hodorkovskij","tag-r0usskij-dobrovolcheskij-korpus","tag-rdk"],"yoast_head":"\n