Eight days after Russia illegally invaded a sovereign country to overthrow its government, reportedly killing thousands of Ukrainian troops and civilians, Vladimir Putin's spy chief is now decrying the international sanctions that have crushed the Russian economy.

Russian Foreign Intelligence Service director Sergey Naryshkin, using language that many are saying could have been written by the American far-right or Fox News, said:

"The masks are off. The West isn't simply trying to close off Russia behind a new iron curtain. This is about an attempt to ruin our government - to 'cancel' it, as they now say in 'tolerant' liberal-fascist circles."