Putin says 2024 was ‘landmark year’ for Russia’s ambitions in Ukraine and blames U.S. for pushing Moscow to ‘red lines’
In a meeting with top officials from the Russian Defense Ministry on Monday, Vladimir Putin delivered a speech that was alternately celebratory and vindictive. He portrayed the war in Ukraine as reaching a “turning point” in Russia’s favor, while blasting the U.S. and its allies for allegedly pushing Russia into military action. Meduza shares a brief summary of his remarks.
At a Russian Defense Ministry meeting on Monday, Vladimir Putin described 2024 as a “landmark” year in the achievement of Moscow’s objectives in its war against Ukraine. Putin said Russia had captured 189 settlements and expanded its military to 1.5 million personnel. He also claimed that more than 1,000 volunteers are signing military service contracts every day.
“This is a turning point on the front lines and our combat activity, a complete seizure of the strategic initiative,” Putin said.
In reality, according to quarterly budget execution reports analyzed by Meduza, Russia’s army recruitment rate decreased in 2024. While at least 900 people signed military contracts each day on average in 2023, the number had dropped to 500–600 by the third quarter of 2024.
The Russian president warned that if the U.S. deploys medium- and short-range missile systems abroad, Russia will lift its self-imposed restrictions on similar deployments.
“NATO’s ambitions have long exceeded the so-called zone of its historical responsibility,” Putin said. “In addition to its so-called eastern flank, the alliance is increasing its presence in the Asia-Pacific region.” He continued:
Equally concerning is the U.S. activity aimed at creating and preparing to deploy advanced land-based precision strike systems with a range of up to 5,500 kilometers [3,400 miles]. These missile systems are already being tested for deployment and movement in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. […] If the U.S. proceeds with deploying such systems, we will lift all our voluntary restrictions.
Putin also said that Russia will maintain its nuclear capabilities while developing non-strategic nuclear weapons, including by launching serial production of its recently unveiled Oreshnik missile “in the near future.”
[America’s] tactic is very simple: they push us to our red line, beyond which we can no longer retreat, we start responding, and immediately they scare their population — previously, with the Soviet threat, and now with the supposed Russian threat. Meanwhile, NATO countries themselves are increasing military spending.
Addressing earlier challenges with drone supplies, Putin claimed that Russia now delivers several thousand drones to its military every day, though he stressed the need to further ramp up production.
Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov reported that over the past year, Russian forces have seized 4,500 square kilometers (1,730 square miles) of Ukrainian territory. He also noted that the Defense Ministry is focused on ensuring readiness for a potential military conflict with NATO and said this is why defense spending accounts for nearly a third of Russia’s federal budget.
Belousov proposed the creation of a new branch of the Russian military dedicated to drones. Ukraine created an analogous branch of its military, the Unmanned Systems Forces, in June 2024.
Earlier, Reuters, citing U.S. intelligence sources, reported that the U.S. considers it unlikely that Russia would use nuclear weapons, even in light of Moscow’s changes to its nuclear doctrine, which took effect on the same day that Washington was reported to have authorized Ukraine to carry out long-range weapon strikes on Russian territory.
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