Putin FINALLY refers to Ukrainian invasion as a WAR for the first time in ten months: Opposition figures point out Vladimir should be jailed for breaking his own law
- Vladimir Putin said in a speech Russia’s goal is to ‘end this war’
- The tyrant had outlawed the use of the word, with opposition figures jailed
- The president had always referred to his invasion as a ‘special military operation’
- Read more: Fire engulfs military facility amid sabotage fears
Vladimir Putin has finally referred to his brutal invasion of Ukraine as a ‘war’, breaking his own law.
The Russian tyrant has always labelled the bloody ten-month conflict a ‘special military operation’ and banned any reference to the true nature of his barbaric campaign.
Thousands of Russians have been punished – some jailed, others fined – for describing the invasion as a ‘war’, and now opposition leaders are calling for Putin to face the same treatment.
Speaking to journalists, Putin said: ‘Our goal is not to unwind this flywheel of a military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war.
Vladimir Putin has finally referred to his brutal invasion of Ukraine as a ‘war’, breaking his own law
‘We strive for this and will strive for it.’
His comments appeared to hint at a desire to stop the conflict, but Ukraine as well as his Russian foes fear it is a trick.
Instead they want him prosecuted for breaking his own law which prevents Russians using the word.
St Petersburg politician Nikita Yuferev has formally called on the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office and Interior Ministry to initiate a criminal case against Putin for spouting ‘fakes about the army’.
‘Vladimir Putin called the war a war saying our goal is “to end this war”,’ he said.
‘Several thousand people have already been convicted for such words about the war.’
Exiled Putin foe Mikhail Khodorkovsky – once Russia’s richest man – highlighted the Yuferov move on Twitter.
Putin has not gone through the formal legal mechanisms for declaring war against Ukraine – or against NATO, who he and his officials claim Russia is fighting.
This may be to avoid spooking Russians and to prevent domestic claims of warmongering against him.
The law has been used to crush dissent, with many foes fleeing abroad rather than risk jail in Russia.
Instead the Russian invasion of Ukraine is supposed to be called a special military operation.
Ivan Drobotov – a close ally of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny – also appealed to the authorities on Putin’s use of the word war.
St Petersburg politician Nikita Yuferev (pictured) has formally called on the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office and Interior Ministry to initiate a criminal case against Putin
Ivan Drobotov – a close ally of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny – also appealed to the authorities on Putin’s use of the word war
He said: ‘On 22 December 2022, at about 19:00, citizen Putin V.V., using his official position, publicly disseminated, under the guise of reliable reports, deliberately false information containing data on the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation.
‘At a meeting with the media, he, in particular, stated that “Our goal is not to spin this flywheel of a military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war, we strive for this and will strive for it.”
‘Given that false information was uttered at a meeting with the media that spread it, the consequences can be considered extremely grave.
‘In connection with the above, I ask you to initiate a criminal case against Putin V.V.’
This involves a maximum penalty of up to ten years in prison.
There is no way Russian prosecutors or courts – in Putin’s control – will open such a case against him, yet his absurd law is now plainly in disarray after he openly used the word ‘war’.
This month opposition leader Ilya Yashin was jailed for eight and a half years after he condemned the Russian army’s war atrocities in Bucha.
This month opposition leader Ilya Yashin (pictured) was jailed for eight and a half years after he condemned the Russian army’s war atrocities in Bucha
Alexei Gorinov was jailed for seven years for asking for a moment’s silence to remember war victims
Alexei Gorinov was jailed for seven years for asking for a moment’s silence to remember war victims.
To add to Russia’s disarray, Western officials said today that Putin has crippled the military and economy so badly that a recovery could take 30 years.
There have been more than 100,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine, while Russia has spent a quarter of its annual budget on the conflict.
Kyiv has obliterated half of Russia’s tanks while Moscow has quickly used up its stockpile of shells, missiles and ammunition.
One senior British government source told The Times that it could take Russia between 20 and 30 years to bring back its economic and military strength.
On a visit to the US this week, Ukraine’s President Zelensky said the money given by western countries to the country was an ‘investment’ and called on allies to pledge more military support to stave off the threat from Russia.
‘Your money is not charity. It is an investment in the global security and democracy,’ he said.
President Biden has agreed to give Ukraine Patriot air-defence systems, which will allow Kyiv to shoot down ballistic and cruise missiles.
He has refused to sanction the donation of Atacms, a surface-to-surface missile system that can hit targets up to 190 miles. He also suggested Nato allies were uneasy about giving Ukraine an offensive weapon that can strike Russian territory.
Ukraine’s armed forces believe that Putin could respond to complications in the east and south with an attack on Kyiv around the anniversary of the invasion in February.
Putin made a trip to Minsk earlier this week to meet Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. There are fears that Russia could use trains to quickly redeploy troops to Belarus to ready itself for a new push for Kyiv.
Pictured: A destroyed Russian tank and armoured personnel carriers on the outskirts of Izyum, Kharkiv Region, eastern Ukraine on September 14, 2022
‘Our expectation is that they will announce military exercises again in January as an excuse to significantly increase the number of Russian troops and the amount of military equipment in Belarus,’ a Ukrainian defence source told The Times. ‘But Lukashenko is making a big mistake. By allowing Russian troops on his territory, he is threatening himself even more than Ukraine.’
Zelensky received a standing ovation from members of Congress on his triumphant visit this week as he secured a major prize from Biden in the form of the $2 billion Patriot system.
The US has sent Patriot batteries to NATO allies like Poland previously, as a way to bolster their defenses, and sent other weapon systems to Ukraine to assist against the Russian invasion.
In recent years, the US has sent Patriot missiles to Saudi Arabia and Iraq to counter threats posed by Iran and to the Pacific region to deter North Korea.
In total, more than a dozen US allies, including Germany, Japan, and Israel, have also purchased the system.
The US has sent Ukraine mid-range defensive National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems in recent months.
It has sent around a third of its stock of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine and a third of its stockpile of anti-aircraft Stinger missiles, the Financial Times reports.
Pictured: Ukrainian soldiers fire a Pion artillery system at Russian positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine on December 16, 2022.
In advance of Russia’s invasion and after the outbreak of war in February, the US Department of State notes that the US approved Third Party Transfers from 14 NATO Allies and close partners to provide US-origin equipment from their inventories for use by Ukrainian forces.
It said deliveries to date include almost 12,000 anti-armour systems of all types; more than 1,550 anti-air missiles; radars; night vision devices; machine guns; rifles and ammunition; and body armour.
Last month US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN that the US is ‘very focused’ on providing air defense systems to Ukraine.
‘We’re now very focused on air defense systems and not just us, many other countries,’ Blinken said at the time.
‘We’re working to make sure that the Ukrainians get those systems as quickly as possible but also as effectively as possible, making sure that they are trained on them, making sure they can maintain them and all of that has to come together, and it is.
‘We have a very deliberate process established by the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Ramstein, Germany, that meets regularly to make sure that the Ukrainians are getting what they need, when they need it.’
The Ukrainian president on Tuesday visited the eastern frontline city of Bakhmut, now the epicenter of fighting in Russia’s nearly 10-month invasion of Ukraine.
Zelensky met military officials and handed out awards to Ukrainian servicemen, who have been holding back a fierce and months-long Russian campaign for the city.
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