IN BRIEF: MFA on turning Ukraine into 'criminal empire' and growing potential for conflict

MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. The West has turned Ukraine into "a criminal empire," marking the height of its policy aimed at preserving hotspots of tension, Pyotr Ilyichev, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for New Challenges and Threats, said at the 19th meeting of chiefs of the head offices of counterterrorism units of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member states and national bodies coordinating efforts to combat terrorism and extremism.

The diplomat also noted that the conflict potential is growing worldwide amid the West’s dangerous attempts to use terrorist groups and extremist forces to keep afloat hotbeds of tensions.

"The growing potential for conflict in various parts of the world is accompanied by dangerous attempts by Western countries to use terrorist groups and extremist forces to fuel hotspots of tension."

"The uncontrolled flooding Ukraine with weapons" leads to a dramatic deterioration of the crime situation both in Europe and in other regions of the world.

The West has turned Ukraine into "a criminal empire," marking the height of its policy aimed at preserving hotspots of tension: "The collective West’s policy aimed at maintaining hotspots of tension reached its peak when Ukraine was turned from a state into a criminal empire."

"Among the most common crimes committed by Ukrainian organized groups are illegal drug trafficking, which accounts of up to 45% of all crimes, fraud in the area of information technologies, trade in firearms, the organization of illegal migration, trade in humans and human organs."

The number of Ukrainian telephone scammers targeting Russian citizens is "estimated at around 100,000."

The Kiev regime supports terrorist groups in Africa and supplies them with weapons the Ukrainian army receives from the West: "The Kiev regime closely cooperates with transnational criminal networks, including in training militants to fight against legitimate governments, especially in Africa."

Ukrainian special services openly interact with and assist terrorist groups, supply them with weapons and drones, train them in their use, coordinate terrorist actions, and transfer trained mercenaries: "This criminal activity is associated with the massive illegal sale of Western weapons and ammunition supplied to the Ukrainian military. Their presence has already been detected in Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, the Central African Republic, and Chad."

"A telling example is the 'Support Group for Islam and Muslims' [linked to the terrorist organization