Yushchenko: Putin is doing a great good deed. He is leading Russia to destruction through turmoil

The Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is leading Russia to destruction through turmoil, says third president Viktor Yushchenko. This is his opinion expressed in an interview with LIGA.net.

Yushchenko said that despite the sanctions, Russia has revenues that allow it to exist. However, Russia is stagnating and the economy of the aggressor state is "going into the abyss."

"And Putin is doing a great good deed. He is leading Russia to destruction through unrest. There will definitely be turmoil. After the turmoil, perhaps one and a half to two dozen national liberation projects will emerge," the third president said.

As an example, he cited Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, oil-rich Russian regions. Yushchenko is convinced that they will be able to manage their revenues independently without Moscow's involvement.

"And the Yakuts, who occupy an area of five or six France. They have world-class reserves, ranging from diamonds to gold," he said.

The politician clarified that "these are large wealthy regions. In many of them, national awareness is already so strong, he continued, mentioning Dagestan and Chechnya.

"What do a Yakut and a Dagestani have in common? Well? There is nothing. And what do a Tatar and a Buryat have in common? What do they have in common? Different faiths, different languages, different histories, different national heroes. And so on and so forth," Yushchenko said.

He is convinced that the peoples enslaved by Russia will be able to rise up if they are nationally educated and aware. In this context, he mentioned the Tatar nation, which speaks its own language and remembers Ivan IV (Ivan IV the Terrible captured Kazan, the capital of modern Tatarstan, on October 2, 1552, after a long siege, which ended the Kazan Khanate and led to the incorporation of its lands into the Moscow Kingdom).

"They understand why they need the state. Because they have not lost their national core. Language, memory, culture, religion, and so on. Customs, traditions, and so on. So there is a great chance," Yushchenko said.

• In February, Budanov stated that Russia does not see itself as a federation and sees it as an empire. For an empire to exist, at least three states are needed in their understanding. This is Russia, which is there, and Belarus, which is partially, mostly there. And Ukraine is missing, he added.