In his vows, Putin castigates Westerners who 'use' Ukraine 'to divide Russia'
Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to the headquarters of the Southern Military District, December 31, 2022. AP - Mikhail Klimentyev
Text by: Léo Vidal-Giraud
1 min
December 31 is also Vladimir Putin's traditional New Year's speech.
An essential point of the celebrations in Russia, with this year, inevitably, a particular stake in the context of the war in Ukraine.
Publicity
Read more
Instead of the usual Kremlin walls, this year it was in front of a group of soldiers
in uniform that Vladimir Putin pronounced his traditional New Year 's
greetings.
classics of this highly codified exercise have been revisited in this context.
The review of the past year, for example, clearly echoes this.
2022 has been, for the Russian president, a year
of “difficult decisions
” and “
fatal events
”.
Russia, hammered
Vladimir Putin
, "
is fighting for true independence
", it "
protects its people in its historical territories
".
This is what the Russian president calls the Ukrainian regions he annexed this summer.
Tribute was also paid to the soldiers of the "
special military operation
", "
heroes
" fulfilling a "
sacred duty
".
And then, the Russian president then gave way to forecasts for 2023. This is a year in which Vladimir Putin predicts that "
the fate of Russia
" will be played out in the undeclared war that the West.
"
The West lied to us by talking about peace to prepare to attack us
", he assures, "
they are cynically using Ukraine and its people to weaken and divide Russia
".
"
But we will win
," concludes Vladimir Putin.
All before finally giving way to New Year's Eve.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Russia
Vladimir Poutine
Ukraine