Vladimir Putin has insisted that his bloody campaign in Ukraine continue until his “noble” goals are achieved, arguing that the invasion went as planned despite fierce Ukrainian resistance and heavy casualties among Russian forces.
“We will achieve our goals, there is no doubt about that,” Putin told workers at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East in his first public comments on the war since his forces were forced to withdraw from northern Ukraine more than a week ago.
“His aims are absolutely clear and noble,” Putin said of Russia’s military campaign, standing next to his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko during a visit to mark the 61st anniversary of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s first manned space flight.
It was only his second public appearance in a week, after a brief appearance at the funeral of ultra-nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, at which he made no direct mention of the war. His recent low profile has marked a marked change for a leader who was omnipresent on Russian television in the early days of the war.
Later, at a televised press conference, Putin dismissed Ukrainian claims that Russian forces had executed civilians in Bucha, likening the killings to alleged Western-staged chemical weapons attacks in Syria aimed at incriminating Russia’s ally Bashar al-Assad.
“It’s the same kind of fake in Bucha,” Putin said.
It was not clear whether Putin meant that the images of the dead civilians in Bucha were staged or that the civilians were killed by Ukrainians, two conflicting versions heavily promoted by Russian officials and state media.
Ukraine has accused the Russian military of executing civilians in Bucha, a town outside the capital Kyiv that Russian troops held for several weeks before withdrawing. Western countries are cooperating with Ukraine in a joint probe to collect evidence of possible Russian war crimes.
War map of Ukraine
Lukashenko described the Bucha atrocities as “British special operations” without providing any evidence.
“If you need addresses, passwords, car numbers, car brands, on which they arrived in Bucha and how they made it, the FSB [spy agency] of the Russian Federation can provide this information. If not, we can help,” said the Belarusian leader, who previously claimed Ukraine was planning an invasion of his country.
Putin also said that the sanctions imposed on his country would not have the desired effect, drawing an analogy between the situation in Russia today and the Soviet Union in 1961, when Gagarin became the first man in space. “The sanctions were total, the isolation was complete, but the Soviet Union was still the first in space,” Putin said.
“The blitzkrieg that our enemies wagered on has not worked,” Putin added, referring to the unprecedented Western sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during his visit to the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East. Photo: Evgeny Biyatov/Sputnik/AFP/Getty ImagesAt times, the Russian leader seemed to ramble or stutter, in stark contrast to the icy, confident demeanor he usually displays.
A recurring theme in Putin’s comments Tuesday was that the war with Ukraine, which is about to enter its third month, was “inevitable.”
“We were forced to do this… Ukraine began to turn into an anti-Russian mainstay. They started breeding sprouts of nationalism and neo-Nazism… And a clash with these forces was inevitable for Russia,” Putin said. “They just picked a time to attack… It was inevitable, it was only a matter of time.” He added that the invasion has so far claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 10 million Ukrainians from their homes , “the right thing” is.
Sam Green, professor of Russian politics and director of the Russia Institute at King’s College London, said that from the beginning of the crisis, Putin described Russia’s actions in Ukraine as an “existential threat”.
“This whole war has been built around the rhetoric that Russia faces an existential threat. That this war was forced on Russia. While goals and objectives may shift during this war, Putin simply cannot give up this kind of existential rhetoric,” he said.
Green said that rhetoric seems to have caught on in Russia, noting the real support the war seemed to have among sections of the population. “Putin wants to make sure there is not a single doubt left as to why it is being waged and why all the pain and sacrifices are justified.”