MI6 Chief Charges Putin in Ukraine Is Reenacting Soviet Crushing of ‘Prague Spring’

July 20, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—Sir Richard Moore, Chief of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), was the featured speaker in Prague, yesterday, at an event sponsored by Politico at the British Embassy, prefaced by an interview. There was nothing subtle about Moore’s message: Just as Soviet tanks invaded Czechoslovakia and crushed the 1968 “Prague Spring,” he said, today once again Russians have invaded another European country, Ukraine, “ravaging a kindred country,” committing unspeakable atrocities, “expelling innocent families from their homes, kidnapping thousands of children,” leaving devastation in their wake, just as in Prague 1968.

Politico plays it up prominently on its website, with Moore’s speech, the interview, and short clips from his speech on key points of emphasis. Moore’s deployment to Prague should be seen in the context of London’s efforts to escalate the drive to nuclear war.

Militarily, Moore paints a fantasy-ridden picture of the battlefield. He claims that Russia is “about to run out of steam” in its special military operation, claiming Russia has had “appalling casualties” and that the military will find it increasingly difficult to supply manpower and matériel over the next few weeks. The Ukrainians, on the other hand, are now “on the offensive, although it’s a hard slog,” but they are “demonstrating their astonishing ability to innovate and mobilize new technology.” There are few signs “that Russian forces are gaining momentum,” he adds.

Moore insists that Putin and his government are starting to crumble, with “cracks” in his power structure, following Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s attempted mutiny. “I think he probably feels under some pressure. Prigozhin was his creature, utterly created by Putin and yet he turned on him. He really didn’t fight back against Prigozhin. He cut a deal to save his skin using the good offices of the leader of Belarus.” Moore described Prigozhin’s mutiny as “extraordinary” but not a surprise.

Moore is also confident that what Putin has done in Ukraine can blow back into Russia, potentially destabilizing the government. Putin can’t contain the impact of what he’s done in Ukraine within its borders. Russia’s “appalling casualties” are “bleeding back into the Russian body politic in a potentially destabilizing way.” Putin is “clearly under pressure.” Moore charges that only “Putin and his henchmen” are talking about “escalation,” which is “irresponsible and reckless and designed to weaken our resolve in supporting Ukraine.” It will not work, he vows.

He also reports that MI6 will always welcome Russian defectors who wish to aid Ukraine. “MI6’s door is always open. I invite them to do what others have done these past 18 months and join hands with us.” Asked if MI6 can definitely protect whatever secrets such collaborators might offer, he assures the interviewer that “their secrets will always be safe with us.” Naturally, he also denounces China for its “hypocrisy,” supporting Russia even though Putin is violating core principles—territorial integrity, sovereignty—that China claims to honor. Not surprisingly, he announces that MI6 now devotes more resources to China “than anywhere else.”