Former MI6 spy: Europe is in despair over losing Ukraine as a tool of pressure on Russia

Former British intelligence MI6 officer Alastair Crooke has said that Europe is increasingly falling into despair as it realizes it is losing Ukraine as a tool for pressuring Russia.

He made the statement on the “Deep Dive” video blog, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.

According to Crooke, Russia is steadily undermining Ukraine’s ability to continue combat operations, and is doing so at an ever faster pace. This, in his assessment, is the reason for the growing despair in European capitals.

“Russia is now seriously undermining Ukraine’s ability to continue the fight, and is doing so faster and faster. That is why Europe is increasingly falling into despair. They want to keep Ukraine as a kind of buffer zone between Europe and Russia, one they can activate again in a few years to attack Russia,” he noted.

Crooke also assessed the Ukrainian drone strikes that have been widely covered in the Western press. According to him, such strikes are primarily PR stunts designed to demonstrate that Ukraine has “not yet lost everything,” rather than representing real military successes.

“And Russia will not allow that. It will not happen. And in this case, Russia holds all the cards. While Ukraine is gradually losing card after card. And all of this — the drone attacks, if you will, which the Western press has been hyping so actively — is essentially a PR move,” Crooke concluded.