Every year, Vladimir Putin registers his wishes in the Kremlin, to broadcast them to the 144 million inhabitants of the Russian Federation as the country, on eleven time zones, rocks into the new year.
This time, the chosen setting was, according to the Kremlin spokesman, the headquarters of the Southern Military District.
In front of an audience of soldiers who had recently fought, war in Ukraine obliges, and whom he had just decorated, Vladimir Putin affirmed that “moral and historical correctness” was “on the side” of Russia.
The Russian president acknowledged that 2022 had been filled with “turmoil and anxiety” and crucial events for “the future of Russia and the world”, which “lay the foundations (…) for our true independence”.
“That is what we are fighting for today, protecting our people in our own historical territories, in the new constituent entities of Russia,” he added.
The annexed regions in Ukraine, “new constituent entities of Russia”
He was thus referring to the four Ukrainian territories that it controls at least partially, which were annexed in September by Russia after consultations identical to the plan for the annexation of the Crimean peninsula in March 2014.
“Together, we build.
And we create.
The main thing is the fate of Russia.
The defense of the homeland is our sacred duty towards our ancestors and our descendants”, also affirmed the Head of State.
Believing that the West supported the Ukrainian "neo-Nazis", Putin castigated "a real sanctions war that has been declared to us" by the West.
“Those who launched it expected the total destruction of our industry, our finances and our transport.
That didn't happen,” he added.
He accused the Americans and Europeans of “cynically using Ukraine and its people to weaken and divide Russia”.
“The West was lying about peace and preparing for aggression,” the strongman from Russia again accused.
