British-trained Ukrainian saboteurs were allegedly caught on Russian soil on a mission to “damage one of our nuclear power plants, blow up… high-voltage transmission lines, with the aim of disrupting the power plant’s operation,” according to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who warned such operations could “provoke us into taking retaliatory actions against Ukrainian nuclear facilities”.
“Not long ago, on our territory, the Federal Security Service, during an armed confrontation, eliminated several troops and captured the rest,” the Russian president alleged, adding that interrogations had revealed the saboteurs were “trained by British instructors.”
“Do they understand what they are playing with?” Putin asked, claiming this “was not [the Ukrainians’] first attempt” to attack a Russian nuclear plant.
“Does the British government and the Prime Minister know what their intelligence agencies are doing in Ukraine, or are they are clueless?” he continued, adding that he would not be surprised to find “that British intelligence agencies are acting under the instructions of the Americans”.
Putin said the West would claim captured saboteurs “say whatever you want at gunpoint,” but insisted “the leadership of the British intelligence agencies knows that I am telling the truth.”
He reiterated he was “not sure if Britain’s leaders truly understand what is going on,” however.
