Russia is not just waging its war against Ukraine, it disseminates an authoritarian model of statehood beyond its borders.

This idea was voiced by Ray Hartley, Director of Research at the Brenthurst Foundation, former editor at the Sunday Times at the 17^th Annual Kyiv Security Forum “UA: UNITE AGAIN TO DEFEAT THE GLOBAL AGGRESSOR”, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation “Open Ukraine”.

“Today we witness how Russia is trying to export its self-created form of statehood - with elements of repression, censorship and disregard for democratic procedures,” said Ray Hartley.

According to him, such a system is based not only on the power apparatus, but concentration of economic resources in the hands of a “critical mass” of influential players. This allows it to infiltrate and permeate political life of other countries and undermine democracy from within.

“The situation we see in some African countries is extremely clear. For example, in Tanzania, the local opposition leader has been in prison since October. In Uganda, one of the opposition leaders is being tried by a military tribunal, and his lawyer was arrested in the courtroom and has been kept in custody for several months. And the world often turns a blind eye to this,” he added.

Ray Hartley compared the current Russian model to a criminal structure adapting and spreading around the world, taking advantage of wars, economic crises, and political instability.

The Kyiv Security Forum, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk “Open Ukraine” foundation, is the main platform in Ukraine to discuss issues of war and peace, national and global security.