Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, declared on Saturday that his nation would never consent to attempts by the West to use Ukraine as a weapon to destroy Russia.
Putin claimed that Russia was fighting in Ukraine to defend its “motherland” and to win its people’s “true independence” in a video message that was aired on Russian state television on the first day of the new year.
Putin accused the West of lying to Russia and of encouraging Moscow to launch what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine in a nine-minute message, the longest New Year’s address of his two-decade rule.
In a speech recorded in front of Russian service members at the headquarters of Russia’s southern military district, he said, “For years, Western elites hypocritically assured us of their peaceful intentions.”
In an out of the ordinary combative New Year’s speech, usually devoted to best wishes for the coming year, Putin said, “In fact, in every way, they were encouraging neo-Nazis who conducted open terrorism against civilians in the Donbas.”
Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defense minister, had earlier on Saturday declared that victory in Ukraine was “inevitable” and praised the valor of both Russian combatants and those who had lost their lives during the 10-month conflict.
Putin claimed that “the West lied about peace.” It was getting ready to attack. and they are currently cynically weakening and splintering Russia by using Ukraine and its people.
Putin is heard saying in the clip, which was aired at midnight in Russia’s far east, “We have never allowed this, and we will never allow anybody to do this to us.”
Moscow’s claims about the start of the conflict are rejected by Kyiv and the West, who assert that Putin started the conflict in an effort to annex territory and unseat Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.