The Russian President speaks in Parliament in Moscow, before the two chambers together
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“We will achieve our goals.” Vladimir Putin guaranteed this in his speech to the Federal Assembly in Moscow. Russia will “systematically” continue the offensive in Ukraine, he assured. The Russian President speaks in Parliament, before the two chambers together. “I speak at a very complex and crucial moment of radical changes that will determine the future of our country and our people. On each of us lies a great responsibility to defend our country and eliminate the threat posed by the neo-Nazi regime,” Putin said. And he added that Russia wanted a peaceful solution in Ukraine to avoid military intervention, but the West played “wrong cards” to deceive Moscow (WAR IN UKRAINE: THE SPECIAL – UPDATES).
Putin: Ukraine ‘wanted to acquire nuclear weapons’
The war in Ukraine, as predicted by experts, is one of the main themes of Putin’s speech. Ukraine “wanted to acquire nuclear weapons,” the Russian president explained the reasons for the military operation that began a year ago. “We had no doubt that in February they were preparing punitive operations in Donbass, where they had already carried out bombings, and this was contrary to the UN resolution. You started the war, we are using violence to stop the war,” he added in his speech to the Federal Assembly. The Russian President also cited the fact that Kiev “wanted to attack not only Donbass, but also Crimea” as a reason for the conflict.
Putin’s speech
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A year of war in Ukraine, the risks of a nuclear world conflict
Putin is speaking in the Gostiny Dvor in Moscow, a building not far from Red Square in front of the two chambers of parliament. It is his first State of the Union address in almost two years: The last time, Tass recalls, was in April 2021, last year the date was canceled due to the beginning conflict in Ukraine. The President of Russia solemnly addresses the parliamentarians of the Federal Assembly, the country’s highest authorities, the government, the governors of the regions, members of the constitutional and supreme courts, heads of the Prosecutor General’s Office, religious leaders and also a delegation of soldiers who returning from a “special military operation” in Ukraine, as they say in Moscow. No foreign dignitaries were invited and the speech is intended for a domestic audience. As for the media, the Kremlin has decided to invite “only Russian journalists and journalists from friendly countries.”
“We have information on the presence of about 450 tactical aircraft (no strategic bombers) and about 300 helicoptershalf of them attack helicopters,” he told the Kyiv Post Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
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In the imprint Yusov let it be known that in his opinion “Mass air strikes on Kiev unlikely”
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The vehicles “are positioned mainly on the territory of the Russian Federation at least 200 kilometers from the border, concentrated in different places, but beyond from our assortment fire,” said Yusov
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