“We are one people”
Putin sees Russia as a victim of Bucha
04/12/2022, 06:16 p.m
The war against Ukraine should continue, says Vladimir Putin. The fact that he sees the Ukrainians as “brothers” doesn’t change that. The Kremlin chief describes the reports on the Butscha massacre as “fake” – he claims he received evidence of a Western “provocation” from his ally Lukashenko.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that the military operation in Ukraine will continue as planned. “Our task is to fulfill and achieve all set goals while minimizing casualties,” Putin said at a press conference with Belarusian head of state Alexander Lukashenko. “And we will do it evenly, calmly, and according to the plan originally proposed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.” The aim of the “operation” is “to provide help to people in Donbass who feel connected to Russia”. Putin has repeatedly emphasized that the “operation” serves to ensure Russian security: “We had no other choice,” he said.
At the same time, Putin accused the West of wanting to separate “brother nations” from one another. According to Putin, Ukrainian nationalism first emerged in the 19th century to divide the Russian people. During World War II, it was the Ukrainian nationalists who carried out pogroms against Poles and Jews on behalf of Nazi Germany. “Nowadays, in the pictures from Ukraine, we see fighters with ‘SS Galizien’ patches,” Putin claimed, referring to the Galician Division No. 1 of the Waffen-SS, which was set up during World War II with Ukrainian volunteers and so-called Volksdeutsche.
“Fake in Bucha”
When asked by a media representative about Russia’s relations with Belarus, Putin replied: “We don’t really distinguish where Belarus ends and Russia begins. We are one people – Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians.” The Ukrainians in particular don’t see it that way at all.
Putin described reports of a massacre of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha near Kyiv as a “provocation” directed against Russia. He compared the allegations against the Russian armed forces with allegations against the Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad of having used chemical weapons in the Syrian war: “We have the same fake in Bucha.” A UN investigation, however, came to that Endingthat the Syrian army was responsible for a sarin operation in April 2017. At the time, Russia prevented the extension of the fact-finding mission in the UN Security Council.
Putin explained that Lukashenko had given him documents that should prove who and how “organized this provocation and this fake”. Lukashenko previously spoke in this connection of “British people” who “performed a psychological operation” in Bucha. Belarus, together with Russia, “clarified this disgusting, disgusting operation by the West,” Lukashenko said.
Putin declares Western “lightning war” a failure
In view of the Western sanctions, Putin declared an alleged Western “economic war” against his country to have failed. “Of course, this blitzkrieg, which our benefactors backed, failed, that’s obvious,” Putin said. Russia’s economy and financial system are “steady on both feet”.
At the same time, the Kremlin chief also acknowledged problems caused by the Western sanctions imposed because of Russia’s war in Ukraine – for example in logistics and with billing. “Of course there are problems,” Putin said. The goods, including fertilizer, would still find their way to the customer. “The economy is fairly stable,” Putin said.
Russia is also prepared for possibly further increasing risks. However, the difficulties were overcome and made Russia stronger in the end. “We will continue to oppose any attempt to slow down the development of our countries and artificially isolate them from the world economy.”
“We have a common fatherland”
On the occasion of Space Day, Putin and Lukashenko visited the planned “Vostochny” spaceport in eastern Russia and later spoke privately. The authoritarian former Soviet republic of Belarus is a close ally of Russia. In the past few weeks, Russian troops had also attacked Ukraine from Belarusian territory.
“You can count on the Belarusians. The Russians need to know that we will always be there for you, no matter what the situation is,” Lukashenko said at the meeting with Putin. “We have a common fatherland, even if we live in different states. Unlike some other republics, we have preserved our unity. And we are determined to strengthen this unity,” said the Belarusian ruler, who the EU does not consider legitimate President is recognized. In 2020, after the obviously grossly falsified presidential elections, he had the peaceful protests against him brutally crushed. Tens of thousands of people were imprisoned, hundreds were injured, several demonstrators were killed.
The Belarusian army has not been involved in the war so far. Since the beginning of the invasion, there have been numerous acts of sabotage in Belarus, especially on the railways, aimed at the Russian army. Hundreds of Belarusians are also fighting alongside Kiev in Ukraine.