“There will be peace when we achieve our objectives. They have not changed”. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has tried to show that he is confident of winning the war while the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, desperately appeals to the West so that his help does not falter. The war is heading into its third year and the Russian leader hopes that his rival will be abandoned and his conquests can be completed. “Today Ukraine produces almost nothing. They try to save something, but they produce almost nothing. They receive everything for free. But these gifts may end one day. And apparently this is ending,” the Russian president said this Thursday.
Putin has wanted to convey to his people—and the West—that he has everything under control: for the first time since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022, he has dared to hold his big annual press conference and, unlike other On occasions, he has not made any relevant promises to win the support of the Russians: neither on the battlefield, where the front is stagnant, nor on the economic level, despite the fact that pensioners make him look bad at the fact that the prices of products basics have multiplied several times. “Victory is on our side,” he warned.
The Russian president has repeated that his objectives are “the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine, its neutral status.” That is, take control of it. A few days ago, a former advisor very close to the Russian president, Sergei Markov, translated it into other words when talking about the failure of the initial offensive: “It was not well prepared. The idea was to change the political regime and establish effective control over the majority of Ukraine's territory.” This Thursday, Putin assured that a large part of the neighboring country belongs to them: “All of southeastern Ukraine has historically been Russian territory. The entire Black Sea region, as a result of the Russo-Turkish wars, passed into the hands of Russia. “What does Ukraine have to do with this?”, he stated during a press conference lasting more than four hours in which he also declared that Odessa “is a Russian city”. He already wrote about kyiv itself as part of the irredentist project in the past to justify the war.
At another point in his speech, a doctor from the occupied Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia warned that at least twice as many specialists are needed in his area to care for civilians, including oncologists. “The doctor said: 'We do not have enough specialists and doctors, like in all of Russia. That is, he perceives his region as part of Russia,” a smiling Putin stressed while he imitated the quotation marks of a phrase with his hands.
The invasion of Ukraine also wears down the Russians. According to a recent survey by the independent Levada center, 21% of the population would have asked their president: “When will the military operation/mobilization end?” Putin has responded to the second part of this question: “By the end of this year we will have around half a million fighters – among the more than 300,000 recruited in last year's conscription and volunteers. Why do we need a mobilization? Today it is not necessary,” the president assured, despite the fact that the wear and tear continues without a clear horizon and the Ministry of Defense has warned that those mobilized and professional soldiers will not return home until the war is over.
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“Our Armed Forces are improving their position along the entire line of contact,” the president assured during his speech. According to his figures, the Russian contingent in Ukraine currently numbers 617,000 combatants. By the way, the Kremlin also denied that there was going to be a mobilization weeks before decreeing it in September 2022. Despite Putin's triumphalism, war correspondents from pro-Kremlin media have argued with him about the real situation on the front. Pervyi Kanal journalist Dmitri Kulko has warned the Russian president that his troops lack sufficient drones. “You cannot not see that the situation – on the front – is improving. It's true? Tell me it's true,” Putin asked the reporter. “It's improving, yes,” Kulko responded.
“We still have a front line of almost 2,000 kilometers,” Putin added. “Of course, maybe not everything will be delivered on time, but our production is growing and a lot is purchased, even privately, abroad. The State, the Ministry of Defense and the industry are working actively,” the Russian president reiterated.
“Putin sides with the Ministry of Defense and rejects criticism, clearly distrusting what Kulko tells him. Very revealing,” said political scientist Tatiana Stanovaya. “A strange intervention from electoral logic. Putin argues with everyone, justifies the authorities and calls serious problems “technical failures.” This means that Putin is not going to flatter the people and does not feel politically vulnerable,” the founder of the R.Politik analysis center said on social networks.
For Putin, the war in Ukraine will not be the end. The Russian leader has insisted on several occasions during his speech on the need for “patriotic-military” education in schools in which combatants arriving from the front participate. “Wars are not won by generals, but by teachers and priests,” said the Russian president, who claimed to have quoted Otto von Bismarck, a 19th-century German chancellor.
Price increases
The event, called the Year in Review, for the first time linked Putin's annual press conference with his Hotline, another event he held once a year in which he answered selected questions from his citizens. The president has assured that the country has funds “to move forward,” and has announced that the gross domestic product will grow by 3.5% this year, although he has not explained that Russia has mutated into a war economy in which the The State spends a third of its budget on defense and security. “Unfortunately, we have an inflation of 8%,” added Putin, knowing that he would be asked about the increase in prices, one of the great concerns of citizens.
Their official figures clash with the perception of the Russians themselves. “There have never been such prices,” Irina Akopova, a retiree, told him live, before reviewing the cost of various basic foodstuffs. “Prices have skyrocketed three times (…) We do not receive a pension of millions of rubles,” she lamented, before denouncing that “there is no one to turn to” as she increasingly raised her voice. . The president responded that his ministers stated that “everything is in order,” which sparked some laughter among the hundreds of guests at the event.
Where Russians see problems, the president says there are opportunities. The central bank raised interest rates to 15% a few weeks ago due to the devaluation of the ruble, and Putin said this Thursday that this “is good news for those who want to keep money in Russian banks.” Likewise, he has emphasized that unemployment has reached a historical minimum of 2.9%, although companies denounce that the lack of workers due to the crisis, mobilization and exile is a problem in maintaining their activity and this results in salaries. higher—and therefore more inflation.
Putin's health has also sparked comments during the event. The conference lasted more than four hours, although Putin coughed constantly from the first minute, something common in his interventions in recent years. “Sorry, the air conditioning is annoying,” he excused himself.
The Russian leader is practically guaranteed his fifth term next year, which would reach three decades at the head of the country in 2030. During his speech, Putin joked about the repression of the opposition. Asked if there is a witch hunt against Alexandra Bayazitova, a journalist who has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for alleged extortion, the president has summarized the persecution suffered by his rivals with his comment: “Don't go too far. What she did? Is he an important opposition figure to persecute?”
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