Putin rages against West while praising Russian troops

Russian President Vadimir Putin railed against the West on Tuesday in a long-delayed state-of-the-nation address, accusing Ukraine’s allies of starting the war.

Putin claimed his war, in which tens of thousands have been killed, is needed to “demilitarise” Ukraine. The West and Nato reject that and accuse Putin of an unprovoked war of expansion.

Putin accused the West and Nato of wanting to “make the conflict global” in a rambling speech ahead of the war’s one-year anniversary on Friday and praised the country’s soldiers.

"I am making this address at a time which we all know is a difficult, watershed moment for our country, a time of cardinal, irreversible changes around the world, the most important historic events that will shape the future of our country and our people,” Putin told Russian lawmakers.

“We did everything possible, genuinely everything possible, in order to solve this problem [in Ukraine] by peaceful means.

Putin:

"They're destroying the institution of family, their cultural-historical identity, and various perversions with regards to children. Priests are forced to recognize and officiate same-sex weddings. The family is a union between woman and man." pic.twitter.com/LZIwjVFPC2

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) February 21, 2023

Putin, who frequently decries Western gender and sexual freedoms as an existential danger, said paedophilia had become the norm in the West. "Look at what they do to their own people: the destruction of families, of cultural and national identities and the perversion that is child abuse all the way up to paedophilia are advertised as the norm... and priests are forced to bless same-sex marriages," Putin said.

President Putin said that Russians who had chosen "the path of betrayal" must be brought to justice, as he gave his state of the nation address. "Those who have embarked on the path of betrayal of Russia must be held accountable under the law," Putin said, adding that authorities would not unleash a "witch hunt" against dissenters.

Putin blamed the West for the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, after Kyiv's allies promised to send new weapons to Ukraine. "The responsibility for fuelling the Ukrainian conflict, for its escalation, for the number of victims... lies completely with Western elites," Putin said.

Putin accused the West of wanting "to be done with" Russia, as he gave his state of the nation address. "Western elites are not hiding their goal - to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. It means to be done with us once and for all," Putin said ahead of the first anniversary of the military intervention.

Putin vowed to "systematically" press on with Moscow's offensive in Ukraine, as he gave his state of the nation address. "Step by step, we will carefully and systematically solve the aims that face us," Putin said ahead of the first anniversary of the military intervention.