The Private Drama Of The Kremlin
- 19.09.2025, 18:47
Why Putin fired Kozak.
The information campaign around the resignation of Dmitry Kozak from the Russian Presidential Administration once again demonstrates the vulnerability not only of our own, but also of Western media space to Kremlin information manipulation.
Information about Kozak's allegedly "peace-loving" views is based on the accounts of some "Kremlin insiders". I am convinced: such "insiders" simply do not exist in a free vacuum - these reports are coordinated in the Russian presidential administration and then reported to Western journalists. For what purpose? To impose the necessary narrative.
They are trying to convince us that Kozak allegedly spoke "against war" at the famous meeting of the Security Council, and then part of his speech was removed. But that meeting was not about war with Ukraine at all - it was about recognizing the "people's republics". Kozak, along with Naryshkin, was one of the officials who discussed further annexation of these territories to Russia. And even at the end of the meeting, no one understood exactly what borders these "republics" were recognized within - that is, the question of war or peace was simply not publicly at issue there.
We are also being foisted with the myth that Kozak convinced Putin that Ukraine had supposedly agreed not to join NATO, so there were no grounds for war. This is a typical Kremlin narrative in the hands of the Western media. Ukraine's accession to NATO has never been the main reason for aggression - the example of Finland shows this best. The real reason for the war is the very existence of sovereign Ukraine. Kozak's task was different: to lure Ukrainian leaders into political traps, destabilize the situation in Ukraine and contribute to the destruction of its statehood through political, not just military, methods.
Kozak was indeed trying to work this way - just as he had done before in Moldova - and that is why his disappointment in the last rounds of negotiations surprises no one. He may have believed he could still manage to "work" for it, to destroy Ukraine without direct hostilities. But that is the difference between those who believe that the enemy can be destroyed politically and those who are ready to "cut off the head" by force.
So the Kozak story is not the private drama of a Kremlin official. It is a classic example of a special information operation and promotion of Kremlin narratives. Meanwhile, Putin continues the war and dreams of erasing Ukrainian statehood from the political map of the world. This is essentially what Dmitry Kozak has been doing in recent years.
Vitaly Portnikov, Facebook