He commented on the recent investigation by the independent Russian publication Verstka titled “How Putin came to hate Ukraine”, saying it was “weak” and “lacked important details that would contradict the sources’ claims”.

“I do not trust any of the Kremlin sources in principle. I have stopped trusting them, as well as publications based on these sources and various insiders even before the war.”

“Obviously, all these people are trying to manipulate the journalist in one way or another,” the analyst said.

Read also: Russian political scientist comments on what Russian security forces think of Putin

Regarding the Verstka article, Preobrazhensky said that the role of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s associate, Viktor Medvedchuk, is exaggerated.

He said that Medvedchuk is not so valuable to Putin, who “does not stand out with empathy for anyone,” to start a war that could have become World War III for his sake.

Preobrazhensky also pointed out that in 2021, Russia was already conducting field exercises aimed at occupying Ukraine, which threatened Ukraine. Therefore, Russia could not move its army to the borders of Ukraine so quickly in response to the closure of some television channels.

“This is obviously not what the story is about. (...) There is a lot of evidence that Putin himself made the final decision back in 2020,” he said.

The analyst added that Putin made such a decision after completing the necessary preparations. He noted that the first indications of a sudden increase in the production and procurement of weapons mainly used by Russia against Ukraine came in 2020.

Read also: Russian political analyst Preobrazhensky on shifts within Kremlin’s party of war

Preobrazhensky said that after Putin’s latest constitutional coup, he was free to act as he wanted.

“And there is a lot of evidence there. I think that after (Putin) staged another constitutional coup, his hands were untied,” said the analyst.

“He consciously waited, watched, and understood that now everything is possible. Now he can attack Ukraine, and no one in Russia will be able to stop him.”

The political analyst suggested that the closure of Medvedchuk’s channels could be linked to the determination of a specific date for the attack on Ukraine “plus or minus a month,” because it was necessary to quickly address the influence in society that was in the hands of Medvedchuk and “the distortions in public consciousness that were caused by the propaganda of Medvedchuk’s channels.”

“They expected to be welcomed with bread and salt, they were in a hurry to be greeted with bread and salt. Therefore, probably in the spring of 2021, a date for a full-scale attack on Ukraine in 2022 was determined. Most likely, logically, military data also supported this,” said Preobrazhensky.

“However, in 2020, there were people in Putin’s inner circle who knew that a full-scale attack on Ukraine was being discussed,” Preobrazhensky said.

Read also: Who will get to power in Russia after Putin is gone?

On April 25, the Russian independent publication Verstka published an investigation saying that Putin decided on a full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year before it was carried out.

According to one of the dictator’s long-time acquaintances, Putin was greatly upset by the “raid” on his associate, Viktor Medvedchuk, because the existence of Medvedchuk and his television channels “was like a bridge and hope to somehow resolve the situation by political means.”

The dictator’s acquaintance said Putin’s decision was influenced by Medvedchuk himself, who regularly told him about the great support he personally had and the pro-Russian sentiments in Ukraine.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine