Praises the arms industry – Putin’s world: “idiots” in Kiev, “heroes” in the Kremlin

During the Moscow Kremlin meeting with military officers fighting in Ukraine, the president also described Ukraine’s leadership as “neofascists.” They have “gone completely crazy, or to put it more simply, they have become completely brutal,” Putin said.

Applause for ‘Alt Nazi’
He claimed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had deliberately cheered on an “old Nazi.” The Kremlin chief was referring to a scandal during the Ukrainian president’s visit to Canada in September, when a 98-year-old SS veteran was invited to speak in parliament and hailed as an opponent of Russia.

Blames Ukraine for the war
The scandal forced Canada’s head of parliament to resign. He was also a target for the Russian leadership: Putin saw the scene as proof of the neo-fascist attitude of the current leadership in Kiev. Russia started the war only because Ukraine “began to destroy Russia on its historical territory,” he claimed.

Putin’s comments came during a reception in the George Hall at the Kremlin Palace on Friday. The pro-Kremlin reporter on Russian state television, Pavel Zarubin, showed excerpts of this on his Telegram channel on Sunday. During the meeting, the ruler also announced his intention to run again for the presidential elections in March.

“Heroes of Russia” honored
The reason for the meeting was the “Day of the Heroes of the Fatherland” on December 9. The Russian ruler honored soldiers as “Heroes of the Russian Federation”. The honorary title is the highest distinction awarded in Russia. Among those receiving a medal was Artem Shoga, commander of the ultranationalist Sparta battalion. This military unit was founded in 2014 in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and has been fighting alongside Russia ever since. The unit is accused of several documented war crimes.

Shoga, himself born in eastern Ukraine, declared last year at a mega-rally in Moscow on the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea that we had to “liberate our country from the Nazis.” This year the officer joined Putin’s United Russia party. A detail on the side: Shoga received his medal with a ribbon in the colors of the People’s Republic, while all other soldiers had it pinned to their chest in the colors of Russia.

Putin: Ukraine has no future
At the same meeting, the Kremlin chief praised his own arms industry. “It yields many times more” than at the start of the war, Putin said. By comparison, Ukraine’s resources are depleted. The country has no base of its own, neither ideologically, industrially nor financially. According to Putin, Ukraine has no future. The 71-year-old, who launched a brutal war of aggression against the neighboring country in 2022 that continues to this day, has repeatedly questioned Ukraine’s right to exist.

New Russian bombing campaign
The fact that Russia has again attacked targets in Ukraine with its strategic air force after a pause of more than two months could be the start of a larger campaign, according to the British assessment. On the night of December 7, the Russian air force carried out major attacks on Kiev and central Ukraine with its bomber fleet for the first time since September 21, the British Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday.

“This was likely the beginning of a coordinated campaign by Russia aimed at weakening Ukraine’s energy infrastructure,” said a message on Platform Although at least one civilian is reported to have been killed, damage currently appears to be minimal.