In his annexation speech, Putin spoke of charity, humanism, and nuclear ‘precedents’

President Vladimir Putin spoke today in the Kremlin’s St. George’s Hall, in front of members of Russia’s parliament. His speech addressed the “results” of Russian-staged “referendums” in the self-proclaimed “DNR” and “LNR,” as well as the occupied Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, explaining their annexation by Russia as historic “fate.” Putin said that he is “certain” that the Federation Council (the upper chamber of the Russian parliament) will “support the constitutional laws on the acceptance and constitution within Russia of four new regions,” “because it is the will of millions of people.”

Those people, Putin added, “are becoming our citizens forever.” “Russia will never betray the residents of DNR, LNR, Zaporizhzhia and the Kherson oblast,” he said. “We will defend our land by all the means and powers in our disposal; we will do everything to ensure a safe life for our people. This is the great liberating mission of our people.”

Criticizing the generalized “West,” and especially “the Anglo-Saxons,” Putin made a series of historical and geopolitical points. The main ones are as follows. The West is guilty of colonialism and the slave trade. In the twentieth century, “our country” (the USSR) spearheaded the anti-colonial movement. The West resents Russia for resisting its colonization attempts. Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism are the religions that represent traditional values Russia will uphold. The fall of the USSR resulted in Western extraction of Russia’s wealth. Western claims of bringing freedom and democracy to the world are lies and hypocrisy.

Putin reminded the parliament of the Allied Forces’ destruction of German cities during World War II. American bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he remarked in passing, “set a precedent.” The speaker then moved on without explaining what exactly he meant.

“The Anglo-Saxons,” Putin continued, are not satisfied with sanctions alone, and have now resorted to destroying the all-European energy infrastructure. The US policy is founded on “the rule of the fist,” hence new military bases everywhere, NATO expansion, etc. Anyone who challenges western hegemony is automatically proclaimed an “enemy.” The West’s ambitions of “total domination” are the reason it is undermining other “sovereign centers of global development.” “Ye shall know them by their fruits,” he concluded on this subject, quoting the Gospel of Matthew.

“The battlefield we have been called to is the battlefield for our people and for the great historic Russia,” Putin said. Russia is going to defend its people from from “monstrous experiments.” This, however, requires the “consolidation of the whole society” – but on the basis of sovereignty, freedom and self-determination.

“Our values,” Putin said, are charity, humanism and compassion. He then quoted the Russian philosopher Ivan Ilyin, who wrote:

“The truth is with us. Russia is with us,” Putin concluded his speech, followed by a standing ovation.

On Sept. 27, following the Russian-staged “referendums” on the four territories now being formally annexed by Russia, Ukraine’s President Volodymir Zelensky stated that these proceedings would “change nothing for Ukraine.” “We shall continue to act in defense of our people in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, in the Donbas, in the still-occupied Kharkiv region, and in the Crimea,” he promised.

The full text of Putin’s address is being published in stages on the Kremlin’s official website.

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