As Russian areas within the Far East rung within the New Yr, the Russian chief delivered his conventional midnight deal with standing amongst troopers who fought in Ukraine, based on Russian information businesses.
Putin mentioned in remarks carried by information businesses that this 12 months was marked by “really pivotal, fateful occasions” which turned “the frontier that lays the muse for our frequent future, for our true independence”.
“At present we’re preventing for this, defending our folks in our personal historic territories, within the new constituent entities of the Russian Federation,” he added, referring to Ukrainian areas that Russia claimed to have annexed.
“Ethical, historic rightness is on our facet,” he mentioned.