Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday the West was trying to sow discord between Russia's various ethnic and national groups and fragment the country into dozens of countries.
Speaking at a meeting of the Council on Interethnic Relations, Putin said the provocations organized within Russia's national societies were aimed at dividing the country into dozens of small entities in order to subordinate them to the will of the West.
Putin called Russia's adversaries stupid and guided by neo-colonial ideas.
"Russia's adversaries are doing everything in their power to sow division and discord among the peoples residing on the territory of Russia, but they do not know that Russia's multinationality is its power that oppresses everyone," he said.
Putin stressed that the people of all peoples in Russia are participating in the military operation in Ukraine, and many of them received decorations and medals for their heroism and exploits there, as he put it.
The Russian president stressed that the more sanctions the West has on his country, the greater the level of cohesion within Russian society, he said.