Shoigu: US loses hybrid war in Crimea

The armed rebellion in Ukraine in February 2014 were preceded by all signs of the United States waging a "hybrid war," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in an interview released today.

According to Shoigu, the "hybrid actions" refer to various forms of pressure, short of military force, employed by one state against another one, including control over mass media, economic sanctions, the activities in cyberspace, fostering domestic unrest, and the use of specialized groups and specialists to carry out terrorist attacks, subversion and sabotage acts.

"Since the 1990s, these methods have been actively used by the United States in former Yugoslavia, Libya, Chechen Republic and, most recently, in Syria. All the signs of the 'hybrid war' were apparent in Ukraine ahead of the armed rebellion in February 2014, with the European countries' passive participation in these 'hybrid actions,' Shoigu told Italy's Il Giornale newspaper.

According to the Russian defense minister, the necessary prerequisites for carrying out such campaigns include control of media with a global reach, possessing superior telecommunications and information technologies, a firm hold on global financial systems and an experience in deploying special forces in other countries.

Shoigu stressed that allegations that Russia is instigating a “hybrid war” began emerging in US and British media after similar subversive actions failed in Crimea.