The Russian President said on Monday that Moscow will accomplish everything it set out to do in Ukraine as the conflict enters its third year.
“The truth is on our side. All goals set will be achieved,” Putin declared in a video message marking the second anniversary of what Russia refers to as “Reunification Day,” marking the annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
After deploying its military to Ukraine in February 2022, Russia seized Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson; nonetheless, it is not yet the undisputed ruler of all areas within these territories.
In his speech, Putin reiterated his justification for shifting his army to Ukraine, claiming that it was done in order to protect Russian-speaking residents from a “neo-Nazi dictatorship” which, in effect, aimed to deprive Russian speakers of their allegiance to Russia as their mother state.
He also accused “Western elites” of turning “Ukraine into their colony, a military base aimed at Russia,” and of stirring “hate, radical nationalism. hostility to everything Russian.”.