Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, which hosted the final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, was absolutely packed as Russia celebrated the anniversary of annexation of Crimea. Back in 2014, under Barack Obama’s watch, Putin had completed the annexation of the peninsula of Crimea on this day. The event that effectively started the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
In a mega event where several other prominent Russian speakers like Sergey Sobyanin (Mayor of Moscow), Sergey Aksyonov (Head of Republic of Crimea) and Artyom Zhoga (new head of Sparta battalion) spoke, the main attraction was always going to be Vladimir Putin.
Putin started his speech by quoting the preamble of Russian constitution which states, “on our land, united by a common destiny”. He used that line to try to drive home the point that Crimea, Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic are all essentially Russian. Claiming that Ukraine govt was indulged in genocide in Donetsk, he said, “Shelling and attacks were carried out against the Donbas. This is genocide. Stopping this genocide is the main goal of the special operation.”
Putin also said that they are determined to carry out the plans that they made, indicating that all the western sanctions aren’t going to deter him. He is definitely proceeding with his war in Ukraine to achieve the objectives he outlined. “We know what we should do know and how we should do it and we will implement all our plans,” he said. The stage for the event had signs saying “For a world without Nazism / For Russia”.
Putin hailed the ongoing operation in Ukraine, saying it is special operation to ‘de-Nazify’ the country. He also praised the Russian soldiers fighting the war, saying that the soldiers fighting in the “special military operation” in Ukraine have illustrated the unity of Russia.
During his speech, Putin brought up Fyodor Ushakov, a Russian commander who never lost a military battle, much like Bajirao. This is not the only time that Putin has gone back to history to energize support for Russia. He famously agreed with Alexander III’s opinion that Russia has only two allies, its Army and its Navy.
Putin’s speech was very short today, unlike his long speech when he announced the invasion of Ukraine. And the telecast of the speech was interrupted by a technical glitch, however later the full speech was broadcast by Russian state broadcaster. Later, a Kremlin spokesman said a server glitch had caused the interruption of the transmission.
The only thing clear from the speech was that Putin is not going to back down in the face of western sanctions. Fact is, he can not afford to back down in front of NATO and their allies.
