Putin rebel says 'this is the only way to stop WW3' as he lashes out at Russia's weakness

Vladimir Putin celebrates Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 (Image: Getty)

The leader of Crimea's Tatars believes that the break-up of Russia into smaller states is the only way to prevent World War 3. In a call to arms, the veteran politician urged the "enslaved peoples" of Russia to rise up for their independence from Moscow.

Refat Chubarov is the head of the Mejilis of the Crimean Tatar People - an elected parliamentary body that represents the interests of the ethnic group. Forced to flee Crimea following Vladimir Putin's illegal annexation in 2014, its 33 members are committed to resisting the Russian occupation of their homeland and returning it to Ukraine's sovereignty. In an exclusive interview with the Express, the 68-year-old Tatar said the Kremlin needed external wars to control its own people, secure its power base and preserve the regime's legitimacy.

Refat Chubarov is the head of the Mejilis of the Crimean Tatar People (Image: Getty)

He said that a unitary Russian state within its present-day borders would always pose a serious threat to global peace and the rule of law.

Chubarov argued that only Russia's military defeat in Ukraine and its subsequent break-up into its constituent ethnic parts would prevent an ever more ambitious and aggressive Kremlin from plunging the world into chaos and war.

"The preservation of Russia within the borders at the time of the collapse of the USSR is a constant threat to its neighbours and also to the global world," he explained.

"Because Moscow does not know how to govern such a large territory in any other way. Moscow cannot maintain control over many enslaved peoples without such an instrument as external wars.

"External war for Moscow is a special way of controlling its peoples, a special mechanism for mobilising authoritarian forms of governance.

"And therefore, we do everything to ensure a sustainable world both through Ukraine's victory in this war and the realisation by the peoples of Russia of their right to self-determination."

Russia is made up of a complex and fascinating tapestry of different ethnic groups and republics - a legacy of its imperial past.

There are over 190 different nationalities inside the country, many of whom live in one of the 22 autonomous ethnic republics that form part of the Russian Federation.

Tatars are the second largest ethnic group inside Russia, making up 3.2% of the overall population. A large number of them are resident in Bashkortostan and Tatarstan.

The Crimean Tatar leader said his organisation was trying to build alliances with these groups as well as other oppressed peoples - particularly in the Caucasus - to try and undermine Putin's regime from within.

Although their cultures and religions may differ, the "enslaved nations" were united by a shared history of brutal Russian repression.

Chubarov said that preventing Putin from achieving his war aims in Ukraine would send "an irreversible signal to the enslaved nations to determine their own destiny".