Adviser to Ukrainian defense minister slams Russia’s ‘deranged regime’

An adviser to the Ukrainian defense minister slammed Russia’s government as a “deranged regime” and likened  Russian forces to Nazis during an interview set to air this weekend. 

During an interview with Greta Van Susteren, Yuriy Sak, an adviser to the Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, accused Russian forces of attacking kindergartens and shelters.

He also claimed that the Russian military was “acting like cowards because they cannot progress far on the ground.”

“They are throwing bombs at civilians. These are war crimes. These are war crimes with which the international criminal court in the Hague is already dealing,” Sak told Van Susteren during the interview set to air Sunday.

“And we are firmly convinced that we will win this war with the support of international community. And we are also convinced that a day will come when every single person responsible for this war will be brought to justice and will respond for the crimes that they’re committing on a daily basis.”

The Ukrainian adviser also called the Russian government “an evil empire of lies, built on lies” and alleged that officials were lying to their citizens, soldiers and the international community. He claimed in his interview with Van Susteren that captured Russian soldiers often expressed they had no idea before deployment that they would be fighting in the conflict.

“When Russian soldiers are captured, 99 percent of the time they say, ‘Well, we didn’t know that we were going to war. We were told by our commanders that we were going to military training and we end up here,’” Sak said. 

Sak noted that hundreds of Russian soldiers had been captured and that over 1,400 have been killed. In the past, the Russian government has reported different figures than the Ukrainians. 

“Since Russia is lying to their soldiers about what they’re going to do when they think they’re going to a military training, what is any sort of hope in negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end this?” the Ukrainian adviser said.

“This is not just a Ukrainian problem. We are dealing with a deranged regime who is capable of ruining the whole continent and it needs to be stopped,” he noted.

The development comes as the Russia invasion in Ukraine extends into its fourth week. The war has triggered a humanitarian crisis where millions of people have fled to border countries including Poland.