Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
Politics

Putin ally Chemezov says Russia will be the victor

FILE PHOTO: Head of Russia's Rostec state conglomerate Sergei Chemezov attends the opening ceremony of the International military-technical forum "Army-2020" at Patriot Congress and Exhibition Centre in Moscow Region, Russia August 23, 2020. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

Sergei Chemezov, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, said that the military operation in Ukraine had prevented an attack on Russia, which he said would emerge victorious from the sanctions imposed by the West.

Putin says the "special military operation" is essential to ensure Russian security after the United States enlarged the NATO military alliance to Russia's borders and supported pro-Western leaders in Kyiv.

Ukraine says it is fighting for its existence and the United States, and its European and Asian allies have condemned the Russian invasion.

Russia's economy is facing the gravest crisis since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union after the West imposed heavy sanctions on almost the entire Russian financial and corporate system following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

"If you glance at Russia's history, almost all of that history Russia has battled with different sanctions, with enemies which encircled her, and she always came out as the victor," Rostec CEO Chemezov told staff.

"Now will be the same."

Chemezov is influential in Russia: he worked as a KGB spy with Putin in East Germany before the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.

"It won't be a simple life," Chemezov said, according to a video of his remarks sent by Rostec. "The sanctions are rather serious."

But he cast the invasion as a necessary act to prevent a strike against the Russian-backed regions of eastern Ukraine and then on Russia itself.

Chemezov said the sanctions would allow Russia to develop internally.

Rostec is one of Russia's state corporations with interests in weapons, aircraft engineering, radioelectronics, medical technologies, innovative materials.

Its assets include AvtoVAZ, KAMAZ, UAC, Russian Helicopters, UEC, Uralvagonzavod, Shvabe and Kalashnikov.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Toby Chopra)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.