” Putin’s goal are more extensive than that. He wants, as a minimum, to turn Ukraine into a vassal state of Russia, and, at a maximum, to annex Ukraine into Russia to fulfill his goal of reuniting all of the Russian people (which he has stated includes the Ukrainians). Putin will never willingly accept a truly neutral and independent Ukraine that outside of Russia’s “sphere of privileged influence.”
These are both lies. Putin has never stated any of the above.
He has given countless speeches and been very consistent about what Russia has done in Ukraine.
Newbies to following Russia missed other bombings and wars.
Russia could have grazed Ukraine to the ground in under a week. They did it to the chechens. I was horrified.
Grozny looked like a nuclear bomb had hit it.
What we did to Berlin doesn’t even compare.
Without historical perspective, people, often from other countries, post all their myths and BS here because they just don’t know.
I have, quite frankly, been amazed at how kind Russia has been in this war.
I have followed Putin and Russia very closely since the 90s.
Most of you here are just jumping in with your assumptions after being brainwashed by the media and repeating it.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/776355/posts
Yes, Putin has been very consistent in his statements about Ukraine. He has repeatedly made the following claims:
1) The Ukrainian government is a “Nazi regime.”
2) The goal of his “special military operation” is to “denazify” Ukraine.
3) The Ukrainians and Russians are one nation. The concept of a Ukrainian national identity is a fiction invented by the West to divide Russia.
4) Russia needs to re-establish full sovereignty over its historical territories.
Given the above, how does Putin intend to “denazify” Ukraine without regime change that would install a Ukrainian government subservient to Moscow? If, as Putin has stated, Ukrainians are actually Russians, doesn’t Putin’s statement about Russia’s historical territories include Ukraine?
Here are just a few links to statements by Putin that make the points that I’ve outlined above:
Putin’s February 24, 2022 address announcing his “special military operation” where he claimed that “neo-Nazis” had seized power in Ukraine and that the goal of the “special military operation” was to “denazify” Ukraine.
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/67843
Putin’s remarks to the Russian Federation Security Council on February 21, 2022 were he describes the Ukrainian government as a “neo-Nazi Banderite regime”.
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/67825
Putin’s remarks to the Russian Federation Security Council on March 3, 2022 were he again says his goal is to “denazify” Ukraine. He adds “I will never abandon my conviction that Russians and Ukrainians are one nation.”
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/67903
Putin’s address of September 21, 2022 were he describes that the Ukrainian government as a “neo-Nazi regime.”
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69390
Putin’s July 12, 2021 article claiming that Russia and Ukraine are one people and that the concept of a Ukrainian national identity is a fiction invented by the West to divide Russia.
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/66181
Putin’s 2023 New Years’ Address where he talks about reestablishing Russia’s full sovereignty over its historical territories.
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/70315