In an aggressive address to the Russian parliament on Tuesday, Vladimir Putin managed to compile all the lies he has been repeating for a while in one speech. Among other things, Putin vowed to continue with Russia’s year-long ‘operation’ in Ukraine, accused the U.S.-led NATO alliance of sparking the conflict, and promised to financially assist the families of Russian soldiers that died in Ukraine.
Ukrainian people hostage of… themselves?
Putin started his speech by blatantly saying that Russia had done everything it could to avoid war but the West pushed Russia into action. “We patiently tried to negotiate a peaceful way out of this most difficult conflict, but a completely different scenario was being prepared behind our backs,” the Russian strongman stressed.
He later stated that “The people of Ukraine have become the hostage of the Kyiv regime”, a government democratically elected by Ukrainian citizens. Putin went on to say that “Kyiv regime and its Western overlords (Ukraine’s allies) … occupied this country in the political, military and economic sense.”
The West
Putin also emphasized that Western-backed Ukraine had been planning to attack Russian-controlled Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014. However, the only moves Ukraine was trying to make at that time were aimed at getting closer to a Western economic model.
Repeating Kremlin propaganda, the Russian leader came to the conclusion that Western countries by helping Ukraine defend themselves “intend to translate the local conflict into a global confrontation.”
⚡️Putin starts address to parliament about war, lashes out at West
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on Feb. 21 lashed out at NATO, claiming that Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine was started by the West.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) February 21, 2023
As to Russian custom he went on to threaten Ukraine’s allies saying that Russia “will react accordingly.”
All aboard the Putin train
The 70-year-old Kremlin chief further stated that defeating Russia was impossible and that Russia would never yield to Western attempts to divide its society, adding that a majority of Russians supported the war.
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When he spoke about the annexation of four Ukrainian territories last year, he got a standing ovation from all his cronies, as none of them would like to end up as several Russian oligarchs that died in mysterious circumstances over the past year.
Unfulfilled promises
Putin once again promised to help all those families that lost their loved ones on the Ukrainian frontlines. This time instead of second-hand fur coats, or on-time payments, he said that a special fund will be developed for the families of those killed in the war.
Ukraine’s response
Commenting on the Russian dictator’s speech Ukrainian presidential advisor, Mykhailo Podolak assessed that Putin publicly demonstrated his confusion, stressing that Russia is at an impasse, has no prospects, and will have none in the future.
According to Putin “there are ‘Nazis, Martians and conspiracy theories’…
Sic transit gloria mundi (Latin for ‘thus passes the glory of the world’) of Putin in RF’s (Russian Federation’s) parliament,” Podolak wrote on social media.
Putin publicly demonstrated his irrelevance and confusion. He stressed that RF is in "taiga deadlock”, has no promising solutions and won't have any. Because everywhere there are "Nazis, Martians and conspiracy theories"…
Sic transit gloria mundi of Putin in RF’s parliament
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) February 21, 2023
Problems in broadcasting
The only lie Putin was unable to repeat was the one about “Ukrainian nazis”. However, this came about, not because the Russian President forgot to mention it, but because state broadcasters were struggling at the time with some technical difficulties, later attributed by Russian media to a DDoS hacker attack.
The West and Ukraine reject the Russian propaganda, and say NATO expansion eastwards is no justification for what essentially is an imperial-style land grab doomed to failure.