FRANCE 24 spoke to Sir John Sawers, the former head of Britain’s secret intelligence service. Sawers, who headed the MI6 between 2009 and 2014, said that if Russia’s President Vladimir Putin decides to take military action against Ukraine, it would be in his interest to limit an invasion to eastern Ukraine. But, he cautioned: “There is no doubt that Russia has the capability to carry out a full invasion, take over Kiev, and install a puppet regime.”
According to Sawers, however, a large-scale invasion of Ukraine would be the beginning of “Moscow's problems”.
Sawers said the Kremlin would likely face a “concerted response and resistance from the Ukrainian people".
"And I think the Ukrainian people would be encouraged, frankly, by the West, as we encouraged the mujahedeen in Afghanistan when the Soviet Union invaded that country in 1980.”
