Ukraine War

Putin’s New Year Message

Backdropped by his regular cast of actors, Putin’s New Year message sets a tone of misery and struggle ahead for the Russian people as he tries to redefine the war, evolving key messages

After a long and murky career in the KGB, Vladimir Putin leveraged his way up the political ladder to become President of Russia, changed the law to make it a lifetime appointment, murdered many of his enemies and put hundreds of others in prison.

Deluded by a vision of himself as successor to Peter the Great, he has been responsible for many war crimes and atrocities, including turning Grozny into one of the most ‘destroyed’ cities on earth.

And then came Ukraine.

Re-imaging for Russians

Wherever he goes, Putin’s photo-ops are backdropped by the same cast of actors, as Ukraine’ United24Media Telegram Channel observed.

However, as the series of photo-ops has progressed, the message is evolving as Moscow starts to rewrite history and redefine the future.

Re-building his internal image continued with his New Year message.

This special military operation is clearly a personal ‘crusade’ (inappropriate word) that now defines his reign and Russia’s relations with the world.

His historical legacy no longer looks like the one he dreamed of as successor to Peter the Great.

In his nine-minute New Year message which was the longest of his 22 years in power, Putin aimed his ire at those opposed to the conflict. And that included those inside Russia.

And there was a strong serving of ‘motherhood and apple pie’ which is hard to stomach for most objective observers.

Key themes

Although he trotted out the tropes about de-nazifying Ukraine and pushing back the Western powers intent on destroying Russia, the message is changing to one about an existential fight for the soul of Russia as NATO seeks to destroy the Motherland.

This is at then end of a week when the illegal word ‘war’ has been used by Putin himself.

Analysts pointed out that using the word “war” to describe the Ukraine special military operation has effectively been illegal in Russia since March 2022, when Putin signed a censorship law making it a crime to disseminate “fake” information about the attack on Ukraine, with a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for anyone convicted.

It’s unlikely that he will imprison himself for the crime, despite the fact that he has already constructed a prison around himself, hemmed in by having made Russia a pariah state and apparently living in fear of assassination.

And his New Year speech, delivered in front of grim-faced soldiers in combat uniform (could they be otherwise?), he put the war squarely centre-screen.

Casting Russia as victim of a Western conspiracy, he told families gathered for the Russian year’s main celebration that the months ahead would require support and sacrifice from everyone.

What’s he giving up, I wonder?

The only things he has sacrificed are his country’s economy and ten of thousands of his countrymen.

Quotes

Here are some classic quotes from the speech [irony].

I think it’s significant that in Russia, virtues like kindness, solidarity, and proactive empathy have gained prominence in the past year. Russians are becoming more and more inclined to lend a hand. Without receiving any official instructions, they band together and act independently.

Since the events in Crimea in 2014, Russia has been subject to sanctions; nevertheless, this year, a full-fledged sanctions war has been launched against us. Those who initiated it anticipated a complete collapse of our economy, transportation, and industry.

Because we worked together to provide a solid margin of safety, this did not occur.

Friends, now is the perfect opportunity to put all personal grudges and misunderstandings behind us, to express our feelings, love, and the importance of looking out for one another constantly and at all times.

I want to thank you for being so thoughtful, responsible, and kind. Regardless of your age or financial situation, you have been actively involved in the common cause. You set up storage facilities and transportation to deliver packages to our soldiers in the field of battle, to the citizens of the impacted cities and villages, and you assist in setting up vacations for the kids from the Federation’s newest members.

He also expressed sincere deep condolences to the families of those many tens of thousands of dead Russian soldiers (trained and untrained) that he sent on what was to have been a three day jaunt into Ukraine and is now over 310 days long with no end in sight. But hHe didn’t use those words exactly.

You can watch his speech here (get-a-life advisory):

If you want to read the full English text of Putin’s New Year delusions then I found it at MandyNews.

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