Putin attacks Ukraine: It never had the ingredients of a real state

Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned Ukraine's enjoyment of the foundations of a state, in a televised address to the Russian nation on Monday evening.

Putin described Ukraine as a state established by Russia during the rule of communist leader Vladimir Lenin, adding that Lenin's statues were destroyed there as a sign of the disintegration of communism, pointing to the rupture of communist monuments since independence.

"We are ready to reveal to Ukraine the true meaning of the dissolution of communism," Putin said.

Putin added that Ukraine had never had a "real state" but rather had cloned models for creating a nation-state.

Putin claimed that the nationalists and hardliners who brought the country to a standstill are the ones who are now shooting and are under the control of the West, and added that corruption and the struggle for power between the politically influential oligarchs prevent the residents of the former Soviet Republic from improving their lives.

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