Head Of The Alpha Group Officers Union: War With Ukraine Will Tear Russia From Within

A senior FSB official argued against a possible invasion.

Another senior Russian military official has spoken against a possible war with Ukraine. According to him, it will tear Russia from within.

Alexei Filatov, Lieutenant Colonel of the FSB and the president of the Alpha Group Officers Union, shared an opinion in his blog on Echo of Moscow.

"When we meet with friends – both veterans and civilians – we rarely do not talk about war. Are there any prerequisites? Is it possible? Will it happen? I don't have a single friend who would like military action and would think that this is a good solution. And if we are talking about the likelihood of confrontation with Ukraine, then there can be no two opinions: we must avoid any violent clash, even the smallest one," he writes.

Filatov notes that it is not about sanctions that may follow. Sanctions, he said, are an unpleasant thing, but bearable.

“War between the brothers will tear our country from within. That can't happen. We discussed it with my colleagues and we are sure," the FSB Lieutenant Colonel wrote.

He recalled the open anti-war appeal of the NGO the All-Russian Officers' Assembly to the president of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, was signed by retired Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, reliable person in power structures, and Yevgeny Savostyanov, retired KGB Major General, also supported, who in 1991-1994 was the head of the KGB department for Moscow and the Moscow region also supported him.

Filatov stressed that Ivashov, Sevastyanov, and many of the signatories are people whose influence, social circle and authority are great among both special services and civilians. They speak on behalf of what political scientists call 'elite groups' and on behalf of a significant part of Russian officers.

He writes that there is no unity in Russia in the matter related to a possible attack on Ukraine, not only in civil society but there are also emerging disputes among elites.

"And this is much more dangerous than sanctions and external threats. This is a clear signal that the domestic and foreign policy of our country requires an 'inspection'," Alexey Filatov summed up.

Let us recall, it is said in the appeal of the All-Russian Officers' Assembly (OOS) to the President and citizens of the Russian Federation by Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, that a possible war between Russia and Ukraine will bring human casualties, destruction, many people suffering, the destruction of the usual way of life, disruption of the vital systems of states and peoples. Therefore, Russian President Vladimir Putin was called to resign by officers.

In addition, the ex-head of the group of the 1st direction of the 1st directorate of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Colonel Mikhail Khodarenok said that no one would meet the invaders with bread and salt and flowers, it won't be an easy walk in the case of attack by the Russian army on Ukraine. He dispelled the myth that no one in Ukraine would defend the 'Kyiv regime' and other myths of Russian propaganda.