Difference between revisions of "Vladimir Putin"

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'''Dr. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, Ph.D.''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]: Владимир Владимирович Путин) (born October 7, 1952) affectionately know as '''Uncle Vova''', is the socially [[conservative]] president of the [[Russian Federation]], a position he's held since 2012, after serving as prime minister since May 8, 2008, and previously serving as [[president]] since December 31, 1999<ref>[[Boris Yeltsin]] resigned from the presidency on that day, and Putin was later elected president by 54% of the electorate on March 26, 2000.</ref>  Putin holds a doctorate in [[economics]] focusing on energy and particulallry the field of oil and gas.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/250171761_The_Putin_Thesis_and_Russian_Energy_Policy</ref>   
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'''Dr. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, Ph.D.''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]: Владимир Владимирович Путин) (born October 7, 1952) affectionately know as '''Uncle Vova''', is the socially [[conservative]] president of the [[Russian Federation]], a position he's held since 2012, after serving as prime minister since May 8, 2008, and previously serving as [[president]] since December 31, 1999<ref>[[Boris Yeltsin]] resigned from the presidency on that day, and Putin was later elected president by 54% of the electorate on March 26, 2000.</ref>  Putin holds a doctorate in [[economics]] focusing on energy and particulallry the field of oil and gas.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/250171761_The_Putin_Thesis_and_Russian_Energy_Policy</ref>  Long targeted by [[globalism|globalists]], Putin was the subject of an [[International Criminal Court]] arrest warrant issued by it in March 2023.<ref>https://www.wnd.com/2023/03/international-criminal-court-hits-putin-arrest-warrant/?utm_source=izooto&utm_medium=push_notification&utm_campaign=ICC_hits_Putin_with_arrest_warrant</ref>
  
 
Putin has been criticized for running the Russian Federation in much the same manner as [[Bill Clinton]] and [[Hillary Clinton]] have been criticized for running the state of [[Arkansas]] and the [[United States]] government - taking money from [[corrupt]] [[oligarch]]s and eliminating political opponents and [[journalist]]s.  
 
Putin has been criticized for running the Russian Federation in much the same manner as [[Bill Clinton]] and [[Hillary Clinton]] have been criticized for running the state of [[Arkansas]] and the [[United States]] government - taking money from [[corrupt]] [[oligarch]]s and eliminating political opponents and [[journalist]]s.  

Revision as of 05:14, March 18, 2023

Vladimir Putin
Putin I'm not bluffing.PNG
2nd and 4th President of Russia
From: December 31, 1999 – May 7, 2008 (first)
May 7, 2012 – (second)
Vice President Dmitry Medvedev
Predecessor Boris Yeltsin (First term), Dmitry Medvedev (Second term)
Successor Incumbent (no successor)
Information
Party United Russia
Religion Russian Orthodox

Dr. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, Ph.D. (Russian: Владимир Владимирович Путин) (born October 7, 1952) affectionately know as Uncle Vova, is the socially conservative president of the Russian Federation, a position he's held since 2012, after serving as prime minister since May 8, 2008, and previously serving as president since December 31, 1999[1] Putin holds a doctorate in economics focusing on energy and particulallry the field of oil and gas.[2] Long targeted by globalists, Putin was the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued by it in March 2023.[3]

Putin has been criticized for running the Russian Federation in much the same manner as Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton have been criticized for running the state of Arkansas and the United States government - taking money from corrupt oligarchs and eliminating political opponents and journalists.

Vladimir Putin's decision in February 2022 to commit troops to the Ukraine was precedented by the Bush Doctrine of preventative war, the UN sanctioned doctrine of R2P (Responsibility to Protect), as articulated by Samantha Power during the 2011 Libyan war and the 1998 Clinon incursion into Kosovo, to protect civilians in the Donbas region who had endured eight years of atrocities by the U.S.-backed Maidan regime and was preparing a large scale military action against Russian-speaking civilians in early 2022,[4] and Article 51 of the United Nations Charter which allows for collective security arrangements. According to the Biden regime, Vladimir Putin sabotaged the production of baby milk formula in the United States in 2021, more than year in advance of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine.[5]

Despite Western propaganda and calls for an uprising to overthrow Vladimir Putin, more than 1 million people turned out in the streets of Moscow for the 2022 Victory Day celebrations of the Immortal Regiment for which Vladimir Putin was the featured honored speaker.[6]

Putin had increased Russia's stature in international affairs despite its weak economic position.[7] As a result of the economic sanctions leveled against Putin, he was booted out of the World Economic Forum.[8] As of March 2022 however, Putin still maintained a Twitter account, although not very often used. According to Kremlin press spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Putin considers it dishonest to allow staff and media consultants to script twitter messages in his name.[9]

A baptized Russian Orthodox Christian who quotes the Bible,[10] Putin leads the increasingly conservative Russia against the homosexual agenda, transgenderism, and towards the pro-life side. Abortion and other leftist values had virtually wiped out natural population growth in Soviet times, and left an indelible scar on culture. Liberals criticize Putin and Russia because they disagree with him on social issues. Obama even refused to attend the Winter Olympic games held in Russia in 2014. Putin has also criticized liberal values as "against nature" and out of touch with a more traditional population.[11] Putin may privately seek to issue a new era of Orthodox Christendom with Moscow as the Third Rome. Under this view, Moscow would succeed Constantinople as the center of Orthodoxy after nearly 1700 years.

Putin was invited to speak at Keren Heyesod's annual gathering in 2019,[12] and in 2020 Israel invited him to participate in the “Remembering The Holocaust: Fighting Anti-Semitism” forum.[13] Former Prime Minister Bennett praised him in October 2021 as “a very close and true friend of the State of Israel.”[14]

Zelensky transvestism.PNG Putin and Zelensky.png

(Second from left) Actor, puppet, cocaine addict and commander-in-chief of Ukrainian armed forces Volodymyr Zelensky, chest exposed, tight leather pants, wearing high heels depicted as the "modern Churchill" in Western psyops;[15] (right) President Vladimir Putin receives intelligence briefing on the person, character, and business connections of Volodymyr Zelensky.

Background

Putin was born in Leningrad on October 7, 1952. His parents were survivors the Siege of Leningrad, however his 1-year-old brother, Igor, was not, and is buried along with 500,000 other victims in a public park. Putin's father had six brothers, and five of them died in the war. Some of his mother's relatives were also killed in the conflict. Putin said that his parents had no hatred for the German soldiers. “How can anyone hate those soldiers? They were ordinary people and they also died in battle....They are laborers, just like us. They were sent to the front too,” his mother told him.[16]

Putin writes of his father during the war,

"he works in a military enterprise, where the so-called "armor" exempts from conscription. But he wrote a statement about joining the party, and then another statement - that he wanted to go to the front. They sent him to a sabotage detachment of the NKVD. It was a small detachment. He said that there were 28 people there, they were thrown into the near rear to carry out sabotage acts. Blowing up bridges, railway tracks... But they were ambushed almost immediately. Someone betrayed them. They came to one village, then left there, and when they returned after a while, the fascists were already waiting for them there. They chased him through the woods, and he survived because he climbed into the swamp and sat in the swamp for several hours and breathed through the reeds.... he told me that a German was at the head of their group. At the same time, a Soviet citizen. But he's German....a couple of years ago, a file was brought to me from the archives of the Ministry of Defense on this group....List of groups, surnames, first names, patronymics and brief characteristics. Yes, 28 people. And led by a German. All as my father said. Of the 28 men, four crossed the front line back to ours. 24 died.[17]

According to a made-for-television documentary entitled, The second baptism of Rus, Putin told a personal story how his mother had him secretly baptized in the Russian Orthodox church as his father, who was a member of the Communist Party organization in the factory where he worked, would have faced serious problems.[18] Putin was a judo champion in his youth.[19] He was educated in law and economics at Leningrad State University before being assigned to work in the KGB.[20] After five years in East Germany, he took up various political positions before becoming prime minister in 1999.

Putin at an conference

He was married to Lyudmila Putina, a former stewardess with Aeroflot, from July 28, 1983, until 2014, when the two divorced. They have two daughters.

The legend of Putin began the night of the Fall of the Wall in Germany. Putin was stationed in the consulate in Dresden. A mob had raided the East German Stasi headquarters and moved on to the Soviet consulate. In the chaos, communication with Moscow was cut off. Putin, acting alone without instructions and armed only with a pistol, stared down the mob and told them if they took one more step, they would be shot. The mob retreated and returned to continue pillaging the Stasi headquarters.

As the 1990s progressed, Western capital and corporate raiders flooded into Russia to buy up Soviet assets at bargain basement prices. Prior to the collapse, Soviet enterprises did not operate on the profit motive and received government subsidies, keeping outmoded factories and industries alive while operating at a loss to keep workers employed. When the subsidies and transfers of wealth perished with the Soviet government, the country fell into a deep recession. People were not very enamored toward the transition to capitalism as foreign investors took control of the nation's economy.[21] As in the Dresden incident, Putin's reputation of instinctively standing up to foreign intruders in defense of his country propelled his political rise.

Putin became the brunt of much globalist snarling, typically answered with the words of Barack Obama, "The 80s are calling. They want their foreign policy back".[22] Putin is known for his quick-witted sense of humor.

Domestic policy

A Christian himself, Putin governs a nation that is rapidly becoming more Christian and more conservative, and his snubbing of liberal Obama in May 2012 suggests that Putin is well aware of how conservative his country is becoming. On social issues and taxation, Russia under Putin is more conservative today than the Western Europe.

In terms of achievements, Putin has successfully opposed the homosexual agenda and has supported pro-life reforms. He has also stabilized the Russian economy and restored Russia's national pride, largely by politically exploiting the financial windfall of Europe's need for Russian oil and gas. Russians were enthusiastic that he ended the social chaos that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent pell-mell privatization of the state-owned economy. Many Russians have been mesmerized by the new glitter of Moscow and the restored glamour of St. Petersburg. Russia's revived self-pride follows the humiliation of the chaos after 1991 and the incompetence of his predecessor Boris Yeltsin. Russians have a long history of authoritarian governments and a strong distaste for anarchy. They have little experience with freedom. The Russian mafia, which is more sophisticated than its counterparts elsewhere, controls more than 40 percent of the total economy. Their control is thought to be even greater in certain areas, such as banking, real estate, and consumer markets.[23] In November 2014, Putin started allowing his citizens to own concealed firearms for self-defense, but under certain restrictions.[24] Russia under Putin made it illegal for foreigners without a permit to preach, and banned cults that are harmful to families (Jehovah's Witnesses and Scientology engage in family shunning while Falun Gong, whose founder lives in a luxurious property, prevents family members from seeking medical treatment).[25] Not having a permit is why a Baptist pastor got heavily fined.[26] Like many parts of Europe, blasphemy against the church is also illegal.[27][28]

In May 2019, Putin signed a bill into law ordering the creation of "a national internet network that would be able to operate independently from the rest of the world."[29][30] Russia began testing this network.[31]

While not generally recognized as an outstanding public speaker before crowds, Putin is known for heart-to-heart talks, somewhat akin to U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt's fireside chats, on a wide range of topics and issues of interest and concern to the Russian people his using the television format.

Russian demography has long been an existential issue to Vladimir Putin

See also: Russia's fertility rate

Russia's fertility rate of 1.58 births per woman is one of the lowest fertility rates in the world.[32] It's fertility rate is below the replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman.

Russian demography has long been an existential issue to Vladimir Putin. In 2021, he declared “saving the people of Russia is our top national priority".[33]

Bne IntelliNews indicated in 2022:

Between 1993 and 2008, Russia’s population saw a considerable decline in its population from 148.37mn to 143.25. However, after Russian President Vladimir Putin took over in 2000 he put demographics at the top of the agenda and launched a comprehensive reform to boost the population, as featured by bne IntelliNews in “Putin’s babies”. The fruits of these reforms began to appear in around 2008 when the population began growing again...

The population increased again to 145.9mn recently; however, the population was expected to peak at the end of 2020 and is projected to start declining again...

These problems were already very visible at the end of the 1990s, when demographers became increasingly alarmed at where Russia was heading.[32]

Demographers estimate Russia will fall from being the 9th most populous country in the world to being the 17th by 2050.[32] And estimates indicate that Russia's population will drop from 2014's 142 million to 128 million by 2050.[32]

Political career

V Putin.jpg

In the Yeltsin years during the transition to capitalism, corrupt foreign and domestic oligarchs took control of the country. Putin's rise to power as a populist was by taxing and driving out corrupt foreign oligarchs whom the public viewed as looting the country, and throwing in jail corrupt domestic oligarchs as tax cheats. The oligarchs were his political enemies. Putin's success as a leader in Russia came about by reigning in the power of oligarchs. He allowed them to run the Russian economy provided that they stay out of politics, unlike Western so-called "democracies". Contrary to Western and CIA propaganda, Putin is not a friend of or controlled by oligarchs; rather, the oligarchs bow to his instructions and demands.

Putin has many controversial statements on Communism and has a good attitude toward the Muslim minorities living in the Russian Federation. Alexander Dugin argues:[34]

If we consider the situation in Russia more closely, we will discover that almost all that is said in the West about Putin is wrong. It is a complete caricature. The most important criticism of Putin inside Russia is not from the liberals. Liberals represent the smallest part of the critics. They are absolutely marginal… So the West is absolutely wrong in thinking that there is this big liberal opposition to Putin that is artificially kept down. The real opposition to Putin is growing completely on the other side of Russian society. It is growing discontent with "lunar" Putin, against the Putin who is surrounded by liberals. All the government is completely not only corrupt, it consists of pro-Western liberals. Nothing has changed after the last election.

Putin is mainly backed by the United Russia (Единая Россия) party, which currently holds a majority in the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, known as the Duma. As a centrist party, it usually reflects the political views of Putin, which are that of authoritarian statism and nationalism. On March 14, 2004, he was elected to a second term as president with 71% of the vote. Barred from a third consecutive term by the Russian constitution, Putin ceded the presidency to Dmitry Medvedev on May 7, 2008, and became Prime Minister, at the time-sharing power with the more moderate Medvedev. Medvedev did not run for a second term, and, as a result, Putin was re-elected in 2012. Putin was again re-elected in 2018, facing little real opposition.

After his 2018 victory, Putin's approval ratings fell significantly due to public disapproval of some of his domestic policies.[35]

Political views

Putin has been accused of employing the United States Democratic party tactic of illegal surveillance, harassment, investigation, arrest, and jailing political opponents and dissidents, ostensibly as agents of a foreign power or domestic terrorists.

Learning from the mistakes of USSR in the Eastern Bloc, he made clear that taking countries against their right to self-determination is counterproductive and drains resources.[36]

Relations with NATO

In an interview with David Frost broadcast on the BBC on March 13, 2000, Putin expressed his desire to see Russia join NATO:[37]

Putin lays a wreath a the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the anniversary of the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
Frost: Tell me about your views on NATO, if you would. Do you see NATO as a potential partner, or rival, or an enemy?

Putin: Russia is a part of European culture. I simply cannot see my country isolated from Europe, from what we often describe as the civilized world. That is why it is hard for me to regard NATO as an enemy. I think that such a perception has nothing good in store for Russia and the rest of the world. ...

We strive for equal cooperation, partnership, we believe that it is possible to speak even about higher levels of integration with NATO. But only, I repeat, if Russia is an equal partner. As you know, we constantly express our negative attitude to NATO's expansion to the East. ...

Frost: Is it possible that Russia will ever join NATO?

Putin: Why not? I do not rule out such a possibility. I repeat, on condition that Russia's interests are going to be taken into account, if Russia becomes a full-fledged partner. I want to specially emphasize this. ...

When we say that we object to NATO's expansion to the East, we are not expressing any special ambitions of our own, ambitions in respect of some regions of the world. ... By the way, we have never declared any part of the world a zone of our national interests. Personally, I prefer to speak about strategic partnership. The zone of strategic interests of any particular region means first of all the interests of the people who live in that region. ...

Within hours after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Vladimir Putin was the first foreign leader to call President George W. Bush and offer sympathy and support for what became the first invocation of NATO Article V, "an attack against one is an attack against all."[38] Putin announced a five-point plan to support the war on terror, pledging that the Russian government would (1) share intelligence with their American counterparts, (2) open Russian airspace for flights providing humanitarian assistance (3) cooperate with Russia's Central Asian allies in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to provide similar kinds of airspace access to American flights, (4) participate in international search and rescue efforts, and (5) increase direct assistance -humanitarian as well as military assistance—to the Afghan Northern Alliance. The intelligence Putin shared, including data that helped American forces find their way around Kabul and logistical information about Afghanistan's topography and caves, contributed to the success of operation and rout of the Taliban. Two weeks after the attacks, Putin was invited to make a speech to a Special Session of the Bundestag, the first ever by a Russian head of state to the German parliament.[39] Among the numerous subjects Putin addressed in fluent German was peace and stability in the common European home:

"But what are we lacking today for cooperation to be efficient?

In spite of all the positive achievements of the past decades, we have not yet developed an efficient mechanism for working together.

The coordinating agencies set up so far do not offer Russia real opportunities for taking part in drafting and taking decision. Today decisions are often taken, in principle, without our participation, and we are only urged afterwards to support such decisions. After that they talk again about loyalty to NATO. They even say that such decisions cannot be implemented without Russia. Let us ask ourselves: is this normal? Is this true partnership?

Yes, the assertion of democratic principles in international relations, the ability to find a correct decision and readiness for compromise are a difficult thing. But then, it was the Europeans who were the first to understand how important it is to look for consensus over and above national egoism. We agree with that! All these are good ideas. However, the quality of decisions that are taken, their efficiency and, ultimately, European and international security in general depend on the extent to which we succeed today in translating these obvious principles into practical politics.

It seemed just recently that a truly common home would shortly rise on the continent, a home in which the Europeans would not be divided into eastern or western, northern or southern. However, these divides will remain, primarily because we have never fully shed many of the Cold War stereotypes and cliches.

Today we must say once and for all: the Cold War is done with! We have entered a new stage of development. We understand that without a modern, sound and sustainable security architecture we will never be able to create an atmosphere of trust on the continent, and without that atmosphere of trust there can be no united Greater Europe! Today we must say that we renounce our stereotypes and ambitions and from now on will jointly work for the security of the people of Europe and the world as a whole.

In 2004 the Baltic states - Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia joined NATO in violation of assurances made to Russian leaders when German Unification occurred. The provocative action created for the first time a common border between the Russian Federation and a NATO state. Three years later, at the Munich Security Conference, Putin declared, “We have the right to ask: against whom is this [NATO] expansion intended? And what happened to the assurances our western partners made after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact? Where are those declarations today? No one even remembers them.”[40] In 2008 NATO said Ukraine and Georgia would become members. Four other Eastern European states joined NATO in 2009.

In the face of the NATO onslaught, Putin repeatedly warned the West with the refrain of a made popular by Yulia Chicherina during the ongoing NATO-funded Donbas war,[41] "we have nowhere to retreat."[42] Putin told the nation in a televised address on February 24, 2022 “I am referring to the eastward expansion of NATO, which is moving its military infrastructure ever closer to the Russian border. It is a fact that over the past thirty years we have been patiently trying to come to an agreement with the leading NATO countries …In response, we invariably faced either cynical deception and lies or attempts at pressure and blackmail."

Relations with the EU

Anti-Putin Russophobia in the West, 2022.

In 2014 Putin founded the Eurasian Economic Union to counter European Union meddling in Eastern European nation's affairs.

After Crimea was returned to Russia, the European Union imposed sanctions against Putin and the Russian government.[43]

The relations within the EU are different and divided, it is mainly the following countries advocating namely a critical attitude towards the Russian government: the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) Poland, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, France and the United Kingdom,[44][45] while the following countries have a less hostile attitude or want to maintain a better relationship: Hungary, Italy and Czech Republic.

Also, multiple nationalist parties in the EU appreciate Putin's policies against the Leftist liberal dominance in Europe, like Marine Le Pen's National Front.

Despite EU sanctions, Russia under cooperation between Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel continued expanding economically into Western Europe.[46]

Relations under George W. Bush

Initially relations between George W. Bush and Putin were good, with Putin lending support to Bush's war on global terror. Putin was restrained from giving much assistance outside the Russian Federation, being pre-occupied with the Islamist movements waging jihad inside his own borders.

In Bush's late second term, Putin was concerned about jihadist infiltration from Turkey and Syria through the Republic of Georgia, and intervened. Former members of the Warsaw Pact, who were more supportive of the war on terror than even the US population, then asked for deployment of missile defense systems on their territories, which the Bush administration was inclined to favor as a reward for their help. Russia considered missile defense deployment on their borders overt acts of hostility. Barack Hussein Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, in competition to outdo each other, condemned George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice by sidling up to the Russians and Islamists whom the Democrats portrayed as oppressed victims of a global neocon conspiracy.

Relations under Barack Obama

Targetted Sanctions, from a Moscow art exhibition.

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton initially cozied up to Putin, charging the Bush administration was intent on reigniting the Cold War. However once the Rosatom-Uranium One deal was completed and the Clinton Foundation pocketed millions of dollars from Putin cronies in donations and speaking fees, relations began to sour as the Obama administration could no longer ignore geopolitical realities. Putin had protested the Obama administrations illegal drone strikes, and the administration placed sanctions on Russian leaders ostensibly in retaliation for the Crimean referendum.[47]

President Obama's decision to move an anti-missile defense system to Romania during the 2016 US Presidential election only heightened tensions. Putin, who had repeatedly assailed the antimissile system as a grave danger to Russia's security, called Obama's decision dangerous. This coupled with Obama's implementation of sanctions rather than honor the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances negotiated by the Clinton administration, displaying it as an empty promise to guarantee Ukrainian independence, only further exposed the befuddlement and inability of the Obama administration to stand by US commitments and the weaknesses of NATO.

In September 2013, Putin gave a speech stating the need to strengthen Russian culture with traditional values and the Orthodox Christian church. Also, he condemned Western nations and their godless pursuit of political correctness and homosexuality.[48]

In early September 2013, Putin expressly observed that liberal John Kerry is a liar.

Forbes ranked Putin as the most powerful man in the world as of December 2016, while Obama was ranked #48. Putin gains popularity every time he challenges the U.S. or Europe, or sends troops into a former Soviet Republic.[49]

According to former Obama Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, candidate Donald Trump was a Putin asset - a lie which gained widespread liberal media circulation in the United States perpetrated by paid FBI informants and other subversive elements of the Democratic party working in the United States civil service system.

Obama/Biden Maidan coup

See also: Maidan coup
Russian victims of the Obama-backed "Revolution of Dignity."[50]

Putin is seen as an antagonist by liberals in the West, who are angry about their inability to push the homosexual agenda and pro-abortion policies on Russia. Putin views NATO enlargement by absorbing former Soviet client states as a potential threat to the Russian Federation. Putin has proposed a policy of "Findlandization", i.e., making permanently neutral the Ukraine and Georgia and not incorporating them into NATO under the US's Partners for Peace program. Putin's alleged rigged election system, nuclear energy contracts and military alliance with Iran have heightened tensions. According to mainstream media, the decline of human rights in Russia has been dramatic; for example, Russian riot police beat a number of protesters and journalists at an anti-Putin rally at Pushkin Square in Moscow,[51] and Putin rigged national elections for his party [52]

Putin has even exercised power over the Russian supreme court. Justice Vladimir Yaroslavtsev was forced to resign after warning that Russian security agencies now control the country as they did in Soviet times and expressing alarm over their lack of accountability. Justice Anatoly Kononov was likewise forced out after defending Yaroslavtsev.[53]

Many who have reported or protested such things have found themselves being repressed - or killed.[54][55] Journalist Anna Politkovskaya, an outspoken critic of Putin, was assassinated in 2006,[56] and it is widely believed that the Russian government had some involvement in this death. There were 13 journalists killed in contract-style slayings during Vladimir Putin's eight-year presidency.[57]

Despite these negatives – or perhaps because of the strong hand they reveal – Putin remains popular in Russia.[58] Since coming to power, Putin has expanded Russia's economy and reduced inflation. The majority of Russians are relatively uninterested in politics outside of issues affecting their personal prosperity,[51] and journalist Anna Politkovskaya argued that the Russian people, as a whole, have been willing to tolerate violence in the name of "comfort and peace and quiet".[59]

Relations under Donald Trump

President Donald Trump accused Putin of taking Crimea by force and asked whether Obama was too soft on Russia.[60] In March 2017 the US department of state strongly condemned the arrests of hundreds of protesters against Vladimir Putin's government.[61] The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that US sanctions against Russia will remain in place until Moscow "reverses the actions" it has taken in Ukraine.[62]

In response to the April, 4 chemical attack on Khan Shaykhun in Syria, President Trump launched 59-Tomahawk rockets on a Syrian Air base nearby, tensions led up with Russia, Syria's ally, Putin has called that the US attack was an "illegal act of aggression",[63] and answered this attack by sending a frigate to the military base in Syria.[64] In April 2017 Putin explained that the US-Russia relations have gotten worse under Trump, contrary to narratives put out by the liberal mainstream media that Trump is too "soft" to Putin and is Putin's 'puppet' .[65]

In December 2017 Putin warned President Trump because of his decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and stated that he was "deeply concerned".[66] Putin also opposed Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and told that Russia would continue to honor its obligations under this deal.[67]

In March 2018, Putin unveiled his revamped nuclear missile program, which was a response to the NATO challenge.[68]

Relations with Joe Biden

See also: Biden/Harris regime foreign policy#Ukraine
When Joe Biden fell off his bike in the summer of 2022, social media users wanted to know how Putin could have done it.[69]

As vice-president in 2011, Putin snubbed Joe Biden in a face-to-face meeting. Sitting across a conference table Putin, Biden attempted to lecture Putin. Biden said, "I’ve been around a long time. The first time I was here…” and in mid-sentence his microphone was cut off,[70] the lights for the TV cameras went off, and the press was told to leave. The press exited quickly and quietly. Videocameras were disassembled from tripods and still photographers stopped shooting. Portable lights came down from retractable poles. No one spoke and no one lingered. Putin baited Biden, pulled the plug, stole Biden's audience, and rendered him speechless. Putin and the Russian delegation sat as their American counterparts realized Biden's big moment had been stolen right out from under him. Putin had neither fear nor respect for Biden, and Biden was humiliated.[71]

The Biden family is on the payroll of the Ukrainian firm Burisma, while many Ukrainian operatives in the U.S.[72] and abroad are inimically hostile toward Russia.

In 2014 Hunter Biden colluded with and received $3.5 million from Elena Baturina, the richest woman in Russia and widow of former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov as payment to establish an American bank account for her.[73] In late 2019 Baturina was declared a fugitive from Russian justice.[74]

According to 51 former United States national security "professionals", the Hunter Biden Laptop from Hell was Putin disinformation - a proven lie by a coterie of former American civil servants who conspired to rig the 2020 presidential election.

In 2021, American socialist leader Joe Biden colluded with Putin to raise gasoline prices and home heating bills.[75] Biden cozied up to by Putin by rescinding the Trump-era opposition to the Nord Stream II pipeline.[76] The Russian project is designed to ship gas and oil directly from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Russia has attempted to pressure Ukraine numerous time since the break-up of the Soviet Union to abandon its bid to join NATO by cutting off oil and gas supplies. In doing so, Russia inadvertently also cuts off supplies to Germany, a very rich and large customer. The Nordstream pipeline is intended to counter this collateral effect, while pressuring Ukraine, Poland and Hungary to remain in the Russian orbit. The pipeline itself is a massive scandal in Germany, with for Democratic Socialist Gerhard Schroeder chancellor heading the Nordstream pipeline company and a major stockholders.[77]

Newsweek reported three weeks after Operation Denazification in Ukraine began that Putin's Approval Ratings in Russia rose from 60% before the operation to 71%.[78]

Empire of Lies speech

On February 24, 2022, Putin delivered an anti-woke speech condemning the United States promotion, both domestically and among its allies, values that are "contrary to human nature":

Putin's "My Pet Goat" moment: Putin being briefed on Volodoymr Zelensky's transvestism and wearing high heels.[79]
"US politicians, political scientists and journalists write and say that a veritable “empire of lies” has been created inside the United States in recent years. It is hard to disagree with this – it is really so. But one should not be modest about it: the United States is still a great country and a system-forming power. All its satellites not only humbly and obediently say 'yes' to, and parrot it at the slightest pretext, but also imitate its behavior and enthusiastically accept the rules it is offering them. Therefore, one can say with good reason and confidence that the whole so-called Western bloc formed by the United States in its own image and likeness is, in its entirety, the very same “empire of lies.”

As for our country, after the disintegration of the USSR, given the entire unprecedented openness of the new, modern Russia, its readiness to work honestly with the United States and other Western partners, and its practically unilateral disarmament, they immediately tried to put the final squeeze on us, finish us off, and utterly destroy us. This is how it was in the 1990s and the early 2000s, when the so-called collective West was actively supporting separatism and gangs of mercenaries in southern Russia. What victims, what losses we had to sustain, and what trials we had to go through at that time before we broke the back of international terrorism in the Caucasus! We remember this and will never forget.[80]

Properly speaking, the attempts to use us in their own interests never ceased until quite recently: they sought to destroy our traditional values and force on us their false values that would erode us, our people from within, the attitudes they have been aggressively imposing on their countries, attitudes that are directly leading to degradation and degeneration, because they are contrary to human nature. This is not going to happen. No one has ever succeeded in doing this, nor will they succeed now."[81]

Donbas war

Putin opposes U.S. and NATO-backed Nazis who led the Maidan coup and have killed thousands of people since 2014.
See also: Donbas war

Putin, when meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the opening of the 2022 Winter Olympic games, committed himself on a policy course which sees Russia, together with China, rejecting the "rules based order" that defines the vision of a unipolar world dominated by the United States as the world's policeman, and instead replaces it with a multi-polar “law based international order” grounded in the United Nations Charter.

Grand Mufti of All Russia Ravil Gainutdinov stated: “The entire Islamic world, the Arab world, treats our president’s decision with understanding...They are looking for the victory of Russian politics, and they have absolutely no interest in the hegemony of one country, in the creation of a unipolar world...That is why no country in the Arab world imposed any sanctions on Russia...This is very important...Even as NATO members, even being under pressure, they refrain from imposing sanctions against our country...This means that the Islamic world has deep respect to our country and our Muslims”.[82]

Responsibility to protect, preventative action, and collective self-defense

See also: Russia-Ukraine war

Vladimir Putin set forth a claim under the doctrine of 'anticipatory collective self-defense' which was devised originally by the Clinton administration and NATO in regard to the 1998 Kosovo conflict,[83] as it applies to Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.[84] The unilateral declarations of independence by the Donbas republics are completely legal and precedented by the West's successful demands for Kosovo to be recognized as independent from Serbia, and adjudicated as such by the International Courts.[85]

Stalin (left) with Harry Truman (right). Truman is considered by presidential historians as one of America's greatest presidents because he used nuclear weapons to spare American soldiers lives and end a war from dragging on.[86][87]

The Organization of World Peace reported in 2021, “according to Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Decree no. 117/2021, Ukraine has committed to putting all options on the table to taking back control over the Russian annexed Crimea region. Signed on March 24th, President Zelensky has committed the country to pursue strategies that . . . ‘will prepare and implement measures to ensure the de-occupation and reintegration of the peninsula.’”[88] Given that the residents of Crimea, most of whom are ethnic Russians, are quite happy with the current state of affairs under Russian governance – this, according to a 2020 Washington Post report – Zelensky’s threat in this regard was not only a threat against Russia itself but was also a threat of potentially massive bloodshed against a people who do not want to go back to Ukraine.[89] The Donbas war represents a much more compelling case for justifying Russian intervention under the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine which has been advocated by such Western ‘humanitarians’ as Hillary Clinton, Samantha Power, and Susan Rice, and which was relied upon to justify the NATO interventions in countries like the former Yugoslavia and Libya.

In 1998, Kosovo was not a member of the United Nations, so the right of collective self-defense of member states was challenged. Kosovo was forcibly severed from a member state, Serbia, by NATO and given legal status later. Residents of Kosovo never voted by referendum to declare independence from Serbia. By established international precedents, in 2014 the residents of the Donetsk Republic, the Lugansk Republic, and Crimea voted to separate from Ukraine. The Russian State Duma recognized the decision of the voters and change in international borders, annexed Crimea and in 2022 signed collective security agreements with the Donetsk and Lugansk republics.

On February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin addressed the nation and made clear the objective of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine was not regime change:

"The purpose of this operation is to protect people who, for eight years now, have been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kiev regime. To this end, we will seek to demilitarise and denazify Ukraine, as well as bring to trial those who perpetrated numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including against citizens of the Russian Federation. It is not our plan to occupy the Ukrainian territory. We do not intend to impose anything on anyone by force."[81]

Partial mobilization

For the first time since World War II, Putin announced on September 21, 2022, announced a partial mobilization of military reserves:

"The purpose of this West is to weaken, divide and ultimately destroy our country. They are already directly saying that in 1991 they were able to split the Soviet Union, and now the time has come for Russia itself, and that it should disintegrate into many mortally warring regions and regions,” the Russian president stressed....

“[We talk] about the aggressive policy of a number of the Western elites, who are striving with all their might to maintain their dominance, and for this purpose they are trying to block or suppress any sovereign independent centers of development in order to further brutally impose their will on other countries and nations, to plant their fake values...

"Some irresponsible politicians in the West talk about plans to organize the supply of long-range offensive weapons to Ukraine, systems that are capable of launching strikes against Crimea and other regions of Russia,,,

"In this situation, I consider it necessary to take the following decisions, they are fully adequate to the threats we face. Namely: to protect our Motherland, its sovereignty and territorial integrity, to ensure the security of our people and people in the liberated territories, I consider it necessary to support the proposal of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff on conducting partial mobilization in the Russian Federation....Only citizens who are currently in the reserve and, above all, those who served in the ranks of the Armed Forces, have certain military specialties and relevant experience will be subject to conscription for military service. Those called up for military service before being sent to the units will necessarily undergo additional military training taking into account the experience of a special military operation.

Additionally all military service contracts currently in force (usually 3 to 12 months) were extended indefinitely. Putin said that the current conflict was instigated by the West, noting that the Western countries seek the destruction and disintegration of Russia. He said that the West had been supporting international terrorists, promoted the infrastructure of the NATO offensive close to Russia's borders and fostered Russophobia.

Putin continued:

“If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people - this is not a bluff....those trying to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the tables can turn on them”...

“The Kiev occupation regime has created a deeply echeloned line of long-term fortifications. Directly assaulting them would have resulted in heavy losses, which is why our units, as well as those of the Donbass republics, act competently and use the military in order to protect personnel. They, step by step, are liberating Donetsk land, clearing cities and towns from neo-Nazis, and helping people whom the Kiev regime has turned into hostages and a human shield."[90]

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that 300,000 reservist will be mobilized. Conscripts and people currently studying will not be send to Ukraine. He also said that, so far, 5,937 Russian soldiers have died during the war in Ukraine. (This number does not include the militia of the DPR and LPR, or the Wagner group, who have done most of the frontline work and thus have had higher losses.) Shoigu puts Ukrainian losses at some 62,000 killed and some 50,000 wounded.[91] Russia's total military reserve, people who have previously gone through military training, is 25 million.[92] It also has the equipment to arm those forces.

St. Petersburg International Economic Forum speech

Vladimir Putin delivered a speech to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on June 17, 2022.[93] Zerohedge reported:

"Over the past decades, new powerful centers have been formed on the planet […] each of them develops their own political system and public institutions, implements their own models of economic growth, and, of course, has the right to protect themselves, to ensure national sovereignty. We are talking about real processes, about truly revolutionary, tectonic changes in geopolitics, global economy, the technological sphere, in the entire system of international relations....In the current situation, against a backdrop of soaring risks and threats, Russia’s decision to conduct a special military operation was a forced one. It was very hard to make it, but it was forced and necessary. It was a decision by a sovereign country that has an unconditional right based on the UN Charter to defend its security."

Putin said the European Union delivered a serious blow to their own economies, prompting high inflation. He estimated the costs of the "sanctions fever" to be around $400 billion in 2022 and noted that the measures will become a burden on regular people's shoulders. "It is clear why they waged this propaganda campaign, what all these spells about 200-to-1 ruble-dollar exchange rates and claims that our economy would collapse were all about. All this was - and remains - a tool in the information warfare, an attempt to put psychological pressure on Russian society...The European Union has completely lost its political sovereignty, and its bureaucratic elites are dancing to someone else’s tune, accepting whatever they are told from above, causing harm to their own population and their own economy.

"For a long time, the United States was a big food supplier in the world market. It was proud, and with good reason, of its achievements, its agriculture and farming traditions. By the way, this is an example for many of us, too. But today, America’s role has changed drastically. It has turned from a net exporter of food into a net importer. Loosely speaking, it is printing money and pulling commodity flows its way, buying food products all over the world.

"After claiming victory in the Cold War, the United States declared it was the messenger of God on Earth, who has no obligations, but only interests - and these interests are sacrosanct.....Such a detachment from reality, from the demands of society, will inevitably lead to a surge of populism and the growth of radical movements, to serious social and economic changes, to degradation, and in the near future, to a change of elites."[94]

Meeting with State Duma leadership and heads of factions

See also: NATO aggression in the Russia-Ukraine war

On July 7, 2022, President Putin met with a group of Russian State Duma parliamentarians to brief them on the Special Military Operation on the territory of Ukraine. In the course of the briefing, Putin noted:

"They [the West] should have understood that they have already lost from the very beginning of our special military operation, because its beginning means the beginning of a radical breakdown of the World Order in the American way. This is the beginning of the transition from liberal-globalist American egocentrism to a truly multipolar world – a world based not on selfish rules invented by someone for themselves, behind which there is nothing but the desire for hegemony, not on hypocritical double standards, but on international law, on the true sovereignty of peoples and civilizations, on their will to live their historical destiny, their values and traditions and build cooperation on the basis of democracy, justice and equality. And we must understand that this process can no longer be stopped.”[95]

Remarks on the golden billion

The 'golden billion' has become a euphemism for the privileged population on the NATO states in North America and Europe, or what is sometimes called 'the collective West' which include Australia, New Zealand. Speaking to the Strong Ideas for a New Time forum in Moscow on July 19, 2022, Putin said, "The model of the total dominance of the so-called golden billion is unjust...Why should this 'golden billion' among the planet's population dominate others, impose its own rules of conduct?...Based on the illusion of 'exclusivity', this model divides people into first and second class status, and is therefore racist and neo-colonial in its essence…And the globalist, supposedly liberal ideology which underlies it, is increasingly acquiring the features of totalitarianism, holding back creative pursuit and free historical creation...No matter how much the West and the supranational elite strive to preserve the existing order, a new era and a new stage in world history are coming. Only genuinely sovereign states are in a position to ensure a high growth dynamic and become a role model for others in terms of standards of living and quality of life, the protection of traditional values and high humanistic ideals, and development models where an individual is not a means, but the ultimate goal.”[96]

10th Moscow Conference on International Security

Addressing the 10th Moscow Conference on International Security on August 16, 2022, Putin observed: "Western globalist elites are provoking chaos by rekindling old and inciting new conflicts, implementing a policy of so-called containment, while in fact undermining any alternative, sovereign paths of development. Thus, they are desperately trying to preserve the hegemony and power that are slipping out of their grasp, trying to keep countries and peoples in the grip of a neo-colonial order. Any means are used. The United States and its vassals rudely interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign states by organizing provocations, coup d'état and civil wars. Threats, blackmail and pressure are resorted to in a bid to force independent states to submit to their will. The so-called collective West is purposefully destroying the European security system, putting together new military alliances. The NATO bloc is expanding East, building up its military infrastructure, deploying missile defense systems and increasing the strike capabilities of its offensive forces. Implementing the “anti-Russia” project, they turned a blind eye to the spread of neo-Nazi ideology, the massacres of the inhabitants of Donbass, while continuously pumping the Kiev regime with weapons, including heavy armaments....The United States has set the role of cannon fodder for Ukrainians, and the situation in Ukraine demonstrates that the United States is trying to prolong this conflict."

Signing of treaties of accession of Donbas Republics speech

The Ron Paul Institute described Putin's speech at the ceremony marking the treaties of accession for the Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye and Kherson as Russia playing "a leading role against the Deep State that ultimately runs the West and which uses all available tools - including military, economic, cultural, and social – in its attempt to preserve unipolar world domination....Putin’s scathing attack against the West is a multi-headed weapon as it rallied to the conservative segments of a population dismayed by globalism imposing a deeply disturbing agenda that goes against traditional views on family, marriage and sex, but it also has leftist tones, as his criticism also goes against the same globalism that is worsening wealth disparity, and even a libertarian appeal as he referred to the imposition of states of emergency, media control and sanctions on other societies as examples of Western made totalitarianism."[97] Putin noted:

"Let me repeat that the dictatorship of the Western elites targets all societies, including the citizens of Western countries themselves. This is a challenge to all. This complete renunciation of what it means to be human, the overthrow of faith and traditional values, and the suppression of freedom are coming to resemble a “religion in reverse” – pure Satanism. Exposing false messiahs, Jesus Christ said in the Sermon on the Mount: “By their fruits ye shall know them.” These poisonous fruits are already obvious to people, and not only in our country but also in all countries, including many people in the West itself.

The world has entered a period of a fundamental, revolutionary transformation. New centres of power are emerging. They represent the majority – the majority! – of the international community. They are ready not only to declare their interests but also to protect them. They see in multipolarity an opportunity to strengthen their sovereignty, which means gaining genuine freedom, historical prospects, and the right to their own independent, creative and distinctive forms of development, to a harmonious process.

As I have already said, we have many like-minded people in Europe and the United States, and we feel and see their support. An essentially emancipatory, anti-colonial movement against unipolar hegemony is taking shape in the most diverse countries and societies. Its power will only grow with time. It is this force that will determine our future geopolitical reality.

Friends,

Today, we are fighting for a just and free path, first of all for ourselves, for Russia, in order to leave dictate and despotism in the past. I am convinced that countries and peoples understand that a policy based on the exceptionalism of whoever it may be and the suppression of other cultures and peoples is inherently criminal, and that we must close this shameful chapter. The ongoing collapse of Western hegemony is irreversible. And I repeat: things will never be the same.[98]

Russian Energy Week forum

Putin spoke at the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week International Forum on October 12, 2022. The topic of the panel discussion was Global Energy in a Multipolar World.

"Such direct and transparent communication is essential now, when the global economy in general, the fuel and energy sector are in the middle of, let me be direct, an acute crisis due to unstable price dynamics of energy resources, an imbalance in supply and demand, and the overtly subversive actions of individual market participants, who are guided solely by their own geopolitical ambitions, resort to outright discrimination in the market, and if that does not work, they simply destroy the infrastructure of their competitors.

In this case, I am of course talking about the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines. There is no doubt that this is an act of international terrorism, the purpose of which is to undermine the energy security of the entire continent. The logic is cynical: to destroy and block cheap energy sources, hence depriving millions of people, industrial consumers of gas, heat, electricity and other resources and forcing them to buy all this at much higher prices. Forcing.

The attack on the Nord Streams has set an extremely dangerous precedent, which shows that any critical piece of transport, energy or communications infrastructure is under threat, regardless of its location, management or whether it lies on the seabed or on land....it was proven by the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge committed by Ukrainian intelligence. I have already said that the Kiev regime has long resorted to terrorist methods, organising political assassinations, ethnic purges and crackdowns on civilians....They do not stop at nuclear terrorism either, specifically the shelling of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, terrorist attacks near the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in Russia and, of course, sabotage attempts against TurkStream....

And who stands behind the sabotage against the Nord Streams? Clearly, those who want to completely sever ties between Russia and the European Union, to fully undermine and crush Europe’s political agency, weaken its industrial potential and seize the market. And, of course, those who – I want to stress it – have the technical capacity to organise such explosions and in fact have committed similar sabotage in the past and were caught red-handed but evaded punishment.

The beneficiaries are well known. I believe no specific details are necessary since the remaining gas systems will acquire greater geopolitical significance. They stretch across Poland (Yamal‒Europe), and Ukraine, the two pipelines that Russia once built with its own money. And, of course, the United States, which will now be able to supply energy resources at high rates....

If we come to an agreement with the Europeans to supply gas through the surviving branch – and one branch of Nord Stream 2, apparently, has survived… Unfortunately, we are not allowed to help inspect this branch, but the pipeline is holding pressure. It might be damaged, but we do not know this, because as I have said, we are not allowed to inspect it, but there is pressure, which means, apparently, that it is in working order. Its capacity is 27.5 billion cubic metres per year, which is about 8 percent of Europe’s gas imports.

Russia is ready to begin deliveries. The ball is in the EU's court. If they want to, they can just turn on the tap and that is that. I repeat that we are not restricting anyone or anything, and are ready to supply additional volumes in the autumn and winter period....

the price difference between the spot market and long-term contracts is three- or four-fold. And who did it? Was it Russia? They did it themselves. In fact, they imposed this trading system on us. They have essentially forced Gazprom to shift, in part, to a link to the spot market, and now they are groaning. Well, it is their own fault.

It is clear how this problem of high rates will be solved. We have seen the same strategy being used with other commodity groups. They simply print more money. In the past year alone, the money supply in the EU has increased by around one trillion euros. The problem is what Europe is going to do with this money. Europe will, just like with other goods, including food, grab them and gas from the global market. As a result, other countries, especially developing countries, will have to overpay for these energy resources.

The resources that come to the European market are sold literally triple the price, as I have said, and this feeds inflation. It has already reached 10 percent in the euro zone. It is hitting ordinary Europeans as their electricity and gas bills have more than tripled over the past year. The European population is stocking up on wood for winter, like in the Middle Ages.

What does Russia have to do with it? They are constantly trying to blame others for their own mistakes, in this case Russia. I want to stress again that it is their own fault. It is not even a result of certain actions during the special military operation in Ukraine and Donbass. Absolutely not. It is the result of years and years of bad energy policy. Years and years....

the leaders of some countries, their bureaucratic elites dismiss these obvious considerations, and, on someone else's command, are deliberately pursuing a policy of deindustrialising their countries, reducing people’s quality of life, which will certainly entail irreversible consequences....

The so-called neo-liberal ideologists of the West are known to have destroyed traditional values before, we all see. Now, they seem to have set their sights on free enterprise and private initiative....

We strongly believe that stability, balanced energy markets and a secure future for all nations can only be ensured through joint efforts in an open and honest dialogue based on the principles of joint responsibility and consideration for each other's national interests.

This is the kind of dialogue we have established with our partners under the OPEC+ agreement, as I have just mentioned. As you know, we recently reached the most recent agreements, which primarily reflect supply and demand trends for oil, as well as long-term investment programmes for the oil industry, which, as I have already said, is objectively underfunded....

Colleagues,

Russia is one of the key participants in the global energy market and among the world leaders in oil and gas production and exports, as well as electricity generation and coal mining.

Despite the sanctions and sabotage of infrastructure, we do not intend to cede our positions. We will continue to ensure stable energy security and expand ties with countries that are interested in this....

We could move the lost volume of transit through the Nord Stream pipelines along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea region and thus make Turkiye the main route for the supply of our fuel, our natural gas to Europe and create a major gas hub for Europe in Turkiye, if, of course, our partners are interested in seeing this happen. It is an economically viable project with much higher safety levels as can be seen from recent events....

Friends,

The global energy industry is now facing unprecedented challenges and problems. The short-sighted and erroneous actions by a number of Western countries have been pushing the international community into this situation for years – I have already mentioned this, and I think I was quite convincing.

Effective and constructive ways out of the situation should certainly be the subject of thorough, professional, and depoliticised discussions, including at Russian Energy Week.

I repeat: Russia is ready for a trust-based partnership in the energy sector that serves the interests of our countries’ sustainable development and their reliable access to affordable energy. And we know that this approach is shared by the overwhelming majority of our partners and countries around the world."[99]

Comments on the Ukrainian nuclear dirty bomb

On October 26, 2022, President Putin held a working meeting, via videoconference, with the permanent members of the Security Council of Russia. President Putin noted in that meeting:

"Some countries have long been using the tactics of blackmail, pressure and intimidation throughout the CIS space. In particular, attempts continue to be made to implement ‘color revolution’ scenarios, methods involving nationalism and extremism are employed, and armed conflicts, which directly threaten the security of all CIS members, are being stoked.

We can see the goals of those who are doing this in Ukraine, which has been made an instrument of US foreign policy. The country has actually lost its sovereignty and is being directly governed by the United States, which is using it as a battering ram against Russia, Belarus, which is a member of our Union State, and the CSTO and the CIS in general.

At the same time, we can see the United States’ real attitude to its client states. Ukraine was almost immediately turned into a testing site for military biological experiments and is being flooded with weapons, including heavy weaponry, without any heed to the Kiev regime’s statements about its desire to obtain nuclear weapons. The Kiev authorities have declared this desire publicly, but everyone keeps silent. We also know about their plans to use a so-called “dirty bomb” as a provocation.[100]

2022 Valdai Club speech

Addressing the 2022 Valdai Club Conference,[101] President Putin said:

"Power over the world is what the West has put at stake in the game it plays...Western nations, which want to impose their values and vision as universal, are robbing everyone, including themselves...First of all, this eradicates the creative potential of the West itself...There is a mercantile interest here too...Our adversaries, as I would call them, are trying to expand markets for their products...It’s ultimately as primitive as that...This game is certainly dangerous, bloody and I would call it dirty...Western nations deny others on the global scene the right to any kind of independence, be it political, economical or cultural...Last December [2021], Russia’s proposals to address its concerns about national security were “tossed aside” by Washington...But in the modern world, sitting aside is hardly an option, the West can’t sit out the crises it caused...He who sows the wind will reap the whirlwind, as the proverb says”.

Fundamentals of State Policy for the Preservation and Strengthening of Traditional Russian Spiritual and Moral Values

On November 9, 2022, President Putin signed the decree “On Approval of the Fundamentals of State Policy for the Preservation and Strengthening of Traditional Russian Spiritual and Moral Values”,[102] wherein it declared:

“The activities of extremist and terrorist organizations, certain mass media and mass communications, the actions of the United States of America and other unfriendly foreign states, a number of transnational corporations and foreign non-profit organizations, as well as the activities of certain organizations and individuals on the territory of Russia, pose a threat to traditional values.

The ideological and psychological impact on citizens leads to the planting of a system of ideas and values ​​alien to the Russian people and destructive to Russian society (hereinafter referred to as destructive ideology), including the cultivation of selfishness, permissiveness, immorality, the denial of the ideals of patriotism, service to the Fatherland, the natural continuation of life, values strong family, marriage, large families, creative work, Russia's positive contribution to world history and culture, the destruction of the traditional family through the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations.

The destructive ideological impact on the citizens of Russia is becoming a threat to the demographic situation in the country.

The activities of public legal entities, organizations and individuals that contribute to the spread of destructive ideology pose an objective threat to the national interests of the Russian Federation.”

2023 News Year message

"It was a year of difficult, necessary decisions, major steps towards gaining the full sovereignty of Russia and the powerful consolidation of our society...The truly pivotal, fateful events of 2022 have become a milestone laying the foundation for the common future of Russians and their true independence...This is what we are fighting for today...It was a year that put a lot in its place, clearly separated courage and heroism from betrayal and cowardice, showed that there is no higher power than love for one’s family and friends, loyalty to friends and comrades, devotion to one's Fatherland...The West has been lying about peace for years, but in fact it was preparing for aggression:...And today it is openly admitting this, no longer embarrassed...They are cynically using Ukraine and its people to weaken and split Russia...The Western elites hypocritically assured of their peaceful intentions, including the settlement of the conflict in the Donbass, but in fact in every possible way encouraged the neo-Nazis...Russia's struggle for its interests and its future will become an inspiring example for other states in their striving for a fair multipolar world order”.[103]

Speech commemorating the 80th anniversary of victory at Stalingrad

See also: Battle of Stalingrad

Vladimir Putin made a speech at the commemorative activities on the 80th anniversary of the defeat of the German forces by the Red Army in the Battle of Stalingrad.[104]

"Unfortunately we see that the ideology of Nazism in its modern form and manifestation again directly threatens the security of our country. Again and again, we have to repel the aggression of the collective West.... It's incredible, but it's a fact. We are again being threatened with German Leopard tanks with Iron Crosses on them. Once again, they are preparing to battle Russia on Ukrainian soil at the hands of the followers of Hitler and Bandera....We know that despite the efforts of official, corrupt propaganda by an unfriendly Western elite, we have a lot of friends all around the world, including in America, North America and Europe.... Those who draw European countries, including Germany, into a new war with Russia, and even declare this as a done deal, those who are betting they will defeat Russia on the battlefield clearly don't understand that modern war with Russia will be quite different for them. We don't send our tanks to their borders, but we have the means to respond, and it won't end with the use of armored vehicles."[105]

2023 State of the Nation speech

On February 21, 2023 Vladimir Putin delivered his globally televised State of the Nation speech for 2023 to the Federal Assembly highlighting in part the situation in NATO countries:

"They can’t help but realize that it’s not possible to defeat Russia on the battlefield, and so they are carrying out ever-more aggressive information attacks against us. The chosen target is, first and foremost, our young people, the younger generations. And here again they lie constantly, distort historical facts, engage in non-stop attacks on our culture, on the Russian Orthodox Church, and other traditional religious organizations of our country.

Look at what they’re doing to their own peoples: the destruction of the family, of cultural and national identity, perversions and abuses against children, up to pedophilia, are declared to the norm, the norm of their lives, while clergymen and priests are forced to bless same-sex marriages. Millions of people in the West have come to understand that they are being led to a real spiritual catastrophe, with their elites seemingly going mad, and it seems there is no cure. Moscow cannot allow its young people to fall victim to the kind of spiritual degradation and degeneration that has already befallen many Western countries.

But I would like to tell them: look, please forgive me, to the Holy Scriptures – the main texts of all of the world’s religions. Everything is explained there, including that a family is the union of a man and a woman. But even these holy texts are now being questioned. The Anglican Church, for example, now plans, and for now only plans, to consider the idea of a gender-neutral God. What can we say here? “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”.[106]

Views on abortion

Putin rejects any constitutional right to abortion, as exists in the United States, but is not ready to ban abortion from Russia either. Instead, Putin has supported and enforced pro-life laws in Russian which would be invalidated by pro-abortion courts in the United States. In 2017, he said that he will allow societal (including church) views to guide him on the issue:[107]

“In the modern world, the decision is up to the woman herself,” Putin said, and indicated that additional pro-life proposals “must be careful, considered and based on the general mood in society and the moral and ethical norms that have developed in society.”

Putin's "the decision" is an ambiguous phrase that could include the decision to have the pregnancy in the first place. Also, Putin is very pro-Russia and if thinks abortion is lowering the birth rate in a harmful way, then he could abolish it based on national interests.

Views on wokism

Putin told the Valdai Club in October 2021,[108]

Vladimir Putin's Popularity rating rose to 83% during the Russia-Ukraine war.[109]
"We see with bemusement the process unfolding in countries that have grown accustomed to viewing themselves as the flagships of progress. Of course it's none of our business what is happening - the social and cultural shocks that are happening in some Western countries. Some believe that aggressive blotting out of whole pages of your own history, and the requirement to renounce the traditional interpretation of such basic values as mother, father, family, and the distinction between sexes are a milestone towards a renewal of society...we have a different point of view. We believe, at least the overwhelming majority of Russian society, that we need to rely on our own spiritual values and our historical traditions.

On the culture of our multi-ethnic nation, the proponents of so-called 'social progress' believe that they are bringing a new consciousness to humanity. Something that is more correct...The recipes they come up with are nothing new. Paradoxical as it may seem, but this is something we saw in Russia. It happened in our country before and after the 1917 Revolution. The Bolsheviks followed the dogmas of Marx and Engels. And they also declared that they were going to change the traditional lifestyle, the political, the economic lifestyle, as well as the very notion of morality, the basic principles. Fully, healthy society they were trying to destroy, century-long values. Revisiting the relationship between people. They were encouraging informing on one's own beloved and families. It was hailed as "the March of Progress" and it was very popular across the world. And it was supported by many.

As we see it is happening right now. Incidentally, the Bolsheviks were absolutely intolerant of other opinions different from their own. I think this should remind you of something that is happening...it is with puzzlement that we see the practices Russia used to have, and that we left behind... The fight for equality and against discrimination turns into an aggressive dogmatism on the brink of absurdity. When great authors of the past such as Shakespeare are no longer taught in schools and universities because they did not understand the importance of gender or race.

And Hollywood. There are leaflets reminding what you should do in the films - how many personalities and actors you've got, what kind of color, what sex, and sometimes it's even stricter than what the Department of Propaganda of the Soviet Communist Party Central Committee did. And the fight against racism, which is a lofty goal, turns into cancel culture and reverse discrimination. Racism in reverse. It tears people apart. Whereas the true fighters for civil rights, they were trying to eliminate those differences....Martin Luther King said "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." That is a true value. ...in Russia, most of our Republics simply do not care what skin color you have. He or she, that's not that important, because each and every one of us is a human being. That's the most important thing.

The discussion about the rights of men and women has turned into a total phantasmagoria in a number of Western countries...Those who risk saying that men and women still exist, and that this is a biological fact, are virtually ostracized...And this is not new...In the 1920s, Soviet culture-warriors invented a so-called ‘newspeak’, believing that in this way they would create a new sense of consciousness and redefine people’s values...This is not to mention things that are simply monstrous, like when children are taught from an early age that a boy can easily become a girl and vice versa...In fact, they are indoctrinating them into the alleged choices that are supposedly available to everyone – removing parents from the equation and forcing the child to make decisions that can ruin their lives...This is borderline crime against humanity - all under the guise of "progress."[110]

Views on communism and the Soviet Union

Russian President Vladimir Putin presents human rights activist Alexander Solzhenitsyn with an award. Solzhenitsyn set in motion the movement that toppled Soviet communism.

Putin famously said, "Whoever does not miss the Soviet Union has no heart. Whoever wants it back has no brain."[111]

Putin has before called the Bolsheviks traitors for Russia's defeat in the First World War.[112] However, he has also expressed that "[he] liked Communist and socialist ideas very much and [he] like[s] them still." and compared the Soviet code of conduct to the Bible.[113][114] Putin also has compared communism with Christianity.[115] Putin has been accused by Western media of embracing the tactics of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.[116] In addition, he implies in an interview with Larry King dated September 8, 2000 that his Christianity isn't actually sincere by stating in Russian that he "believes in the power of man" or "I believe in human beings." Though a few years later, his faith became more genuine.[117] Furthermore, around October 2017, he hosted the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students Communist event and gave a speech that strongly implied that he adhered to Communism.[118][119]

Since passage of Sen. John McCain's Magnitsky Act, also known as the Russia sanctions bill which was signed into law by Barack Obama in an attempt to cripple the Russian Federation, Russia has been driven back into competition with the military-industrial complex It has provided arms and materiel to various communist groups, including Angola, and has voiced a desire to reconnect with Latin America shortly before the FSLN regained power in Nicaragua and has supported Nicaragua via foreign aid, shipping tanks, and even posting a GLONASS tracking station on the Caribbean coast, alongside similar arming of North Korea.[120][121] Putin is a close ally of the Venezuela's Marxist Dictator Nicolás Maduro which he defends internationally.[122][123] He also indicated that he still keeps his KGB card while citing his contemporaries within the KGB had discarded theirs after the USSR's fall.[124]

Views on Islam

In January 2018 Putin said that "[t]raditional Islam is an integral part of the Russian cultural code". He also vowed to support Islamic religious education.[125]

Putin has openly endorsed the right of the Chechen people to cultural hegemony in the Chechen Federated Republic of the Russian Federation under Ramzan Kadyrov.[126] Kadyrov has de facto established Islamic rule in the region and was condemned by the international community for slaughtering gay citizens.[127] Chechen authorities have imposed a compulsory Islamic dresscode for women.[128]

Criticism

According to Western propaganda sources, "Putin's Russia is an authoritarian system, with restricted capitalism, a rubber stamp parliament, compliant media, imprisoned or exiled oligarchs, harassed NGOs, marginalized pro-Western democratic parties, and a foreign policy based on confronting Western hypocrisy, double standards, and cultural decadence, all based on money from oil and gas."[129][130] Corporate media television host Sean Hannity claims that Putin is a thug and a "bad actor" who cannot be trusted.[131]

Putin critics allege many political opponents have been "Epsteined" or Arkancided. However many of his countrymen credit Putin with cleaning up corruption, particularly among Western oligarchs and looters. Robert Kraft, an NFL plantation master[132] who was arrested on a morals charge in Florida, accused Putin of stealing Kraft's Super Bowl ring. Putin responded that Kraft gave it to him as a gift.

Quotes

  • "Anyone who doesn't regret the passing of the Soviet Union has no heart. Anyone who wants it restored has no brains."[133]
  • “I think all sober-minded people who really are involved in politics understand that the idea of a Russian threat to, for example, the Baltics is complete madness. Are we really about to fight NATO? How many people are there in the NATO countries? About 600 million, correct? There are 146 million people in Russia. Yes, we're the biggest nuclear power. But do you really think that we're about to conquer the Baltics using nuclear weapons? What is this madness?”
  • If nukes head towards Russia we are going to Paradise, but they won't have time to repent."[134]
  • "Hitler tried to destroy Russia. Everyone needs to remember how that ended."
  • "If you try to bite Russia, we'll knock your teeth out."
  • "Berlusconi is being tried because he lives with women. If he were homosexual, no one would lift a finger against him."[135]
  • "There is also the so-called liberal idea, which has outlived its purpose. Our Western partners have admitted that some elements of the liberal idea, such as multiculturalism, are no longer tenable."[136]
  • "Parent number one' and 'parent number two': 'birth parent' instead of 'mother', banning the use of the phrase 'breast milk' and replacing it with 'human milk' so that people who are insecure about their gender will not be upset...This is nothing new...In the 1920s the Soviet so-called kulturträgers also invented the so-called ‘newspeak’, proposing that in this way they could create a new consciousness and change society's values”.[137]
  • "We all hear about the so-called ‘Putin price hike’ in the West. When I see this, I wonder who they expect would buy this stupidity – people who cannot read or write, maybe. Anyone literate enough to read would understand what is actually happening. - Vladimir Putin, June 17, 2022.
  • "First, they [the West] jumped ahead, and then, after cutting off Russian gas supplies, returned to everything that was reviled...And if you jump ahead, get cheap Russian gas, and then cut off the supply of this gas yourself and immediately switch back to everything that was previously condemned, including coal-fired generation, this, of course, is not the best option for solving global problems”. - September 5, 2022.
  • "I have the impression – and this is particularly true for European countries – that these former colonial powers are still living in the paradigm of colonial philosophy, and they are used to living at the expense of others. They still fail to get rid of this paradigm in their daily policies. But it is time to draw certain conclusions and act differently, in a more civilised manner." - September 16, 2022.[138]
  • "The cost of food on the world market has returned to the levels of the beginning of the year, and it is currently 40 percent higher than in 2020...This is a direct consequence - without any exaggeration - of the predatory policy pursued by the world’s richest countries, which continue to actively buy food using, among other things, the printing of money, which they are constantly carrying out.”
  • "There’s a lot of noise right now about our strikes against the energy infrastructure of the neighboring country...Yes we are doing it, but who started it?...Who struck the Crimean bridge?...Who blew up the power lines of the Kursk Nuclear Power Station?...Who is not providing water to Donetsk?...Not providing water to a city of one million is an act of genocide...No one said a word about it anywhere...At all...Complete silence...Just as we make a move, do something in response...Noise and crackle start from the whole universe...This will not stop us from completing military objectives.”
  • "Now they are persistently trying to convince you that all your difficulties are the result of some hostile actions of Russia, that you have to pay for the fight against the mythical Russian threat from your own wallet. All this is a lie. And the truth is that the current problems that millions of people in the West face are the result of many years of actions by the ruling elites of their states, their mistakes, myopia and ambitions. Well, how can this be printed in the West?”
  • “Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind. It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.”
  • "Let me repeat: we did not start the military activities, we are trying to end them...They started the war...For eight years, that war continued – a war to exterminate people who live there, who feel themselves related by blood to Russia and Russian culture...How long were we supposed to tolerate that?”

See also

Further reading

References

  1. Boris Yeltsin resigned from the presidency on that day, and Putin was later elected president by 54% of the electorate on March 26, 2000.
  2. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/250171761_The_Putin_Thesis_and_Russian_Energy_Policy
  3. https://www.wnd.com/2023/03/international-criminal-court-hits-putin-arrest-warrant/?utm_source=izooto&utm_medium=push_notification&utm_campaign=ICC_hits_Putin_with_arrest_warrant
  4. https://www.anews.com.tr/world/2021/12/01/russia-ukraine-has-deployed-half-of-its-army-to-donbass-conflict-zone
  5. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/5/14/2097914/--All-roads-lead-to-Putin-even-if-baby-formula-might-be-more-important-than-bombs
  6. https://videopress.com/v/KnJnf4eu
  7. Seib, Gerald F. (May 6, 2019). Putin Punches Above His Weight. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  8. https://twitter.com/teddyfenton1/status/1498792512772784128%7C
  9. https://thefederalist.com/2022/03/04/after-banning-trump-for-denouncing-violence-twitter-lets-putin-keep-his-account/
  10. https://www.libertynation.com/why-vladimir-putin-quotes-the-bible/ (analyzing with skepticism Putin's quote of Scriptures).
  11. Multiple references:
  12. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/61546
  13. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/62646
  14. https://archive.is/xQewW
  15. President Zelensky of Ukraine Crossdressing / Dancing in Drag
  16. https://www.rbth.com/politics/2015/05/07/vladimir_putin_reveals_familys_wwii_ordeals_in_magazine_article_45805.html
  17. https://ruspioner.ru/cool/m/single/4655
  18. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2013/07/23/putin-christened-in-secret-from-his-father-a26057
  19. http://nypost.com/2013/11/13/vladimir-putin-is-tougher-than-chuck-norris/
  20. Webpage of Vladimir Putin
  21. In a review of New York Times reporter Anne Williamson's book, Contagion: The Betrayal of Liberty -- Russia and the United States in the 1990s, Paul Likoudis writes: "According to the socialist theoreticians at Harvard, Russia needed to be brought into the New World Order in a hurry; and what better way to do it than [Jeffrey] Sachs' "shock therapy" -- a plan that empowered the degenerate, third-generation descendants of the original Bolsheviks by assigning them the deeds of Russia's mightiest state-owned industries -- including the giant gas, oil, electrical, and telecommunications industries, the world's largest paper, iron, and steel factories, the world's richest gold, silver, diamond, and platinum mines, automobile and airplane factories, etc. -- who, in turn, sold some of their shares of the properties to Westerners for a song, and pocketed the cash, while retaining control of the companies. These third-generation Bolsheviks -- led by former Pravda hack Yegor Gaidar, grandson of a Bolshevik who achieved prominence as the teenage mass murderer of White Army officers, now heads the Moscow-based Institute for Economies in Transition -- became instant millionaires (or billionaires) and left the Russian workers virtual slaves of them and their new foreign investors."
    HOW CLINTON AND COMPANY AND THE BANKERS PLUNDERED RUSSIA IN THE '90s, Paul Likoudis, January 2, 2016
  22. https://www.salon.com/2012/10/23/obama_the_80s_called_they_want_their_foreign_policy_back/
  23. Louise I. Shelley, The Price Tag of Russia's Organized Crime
  24. https://www.rt.com/news/206703-russia-guns-self-defense/
  25. http://forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2197s
  26. http://www.christianpost.com/news/russia-persecution-christians-intensifies-putin-cant-be-trusted-experts-warn-184255/
  27. http://www.aif.ru/society/law/delo_est_a_boga_net_za_chto_na_samom_dele_sudyat_viktora_krasnova?fbclid=IwAR2bypeUccKIaU4-J0V-Ybe4pl0EsUK32g4EaItpB8pdJ_ZQ5SYS37lh7dU
  28. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/03/russian-atheist-faces-year-in-jail-for-denying-existence-of-god-during-webchat
  29. Gstalter, Morgan (May 2, 2019). Putin signs controversial internet law. The Hill. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  30. Putin Signs ‘Sovereign Internet’ Law, Expands Government Control
  31. Bonn, Tess (December 26, 2019). Russia successfully tests country-wide alternative to global internet. The Hill. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
  32. 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 Russian fertility rates fall to record lows on the back of a deteriorating economy and sanctions pressure, bne IntelliNews, 2022
  33. Russia’s population is in a historic decline as emigration, war and a plunging birth rate form a ‘perfect storm’, Fortune magazine, 2022
  34. http://www.aspeninstitute.it/aspenia-online/article/russian-conservative-view-putin-interview-alexander-dugin
  35. Bennetts, Marc (August 12, 2019). Putin's political milestone marred by plummeting polls, massive protests. The Washington Times. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  36. https://youtu.be/DHIxry8WfyA
  37. https://www.gazeta.ru/2001/02/28/putin_i_bbc.shtml
  38. https://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/09/10/ar911.russia.putin/index.html
  39. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/40168
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  41. https://youtu.be/HdVkbCGEyT8
  42. https://youtu.be/i0YqXRPHisE
  43. http://rt.com/business/168192-eu-sanctions-crimea-deadlock/
  44. http://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/russian-sanctions-debate-divides-eu/
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  47. https://youtu.be/I-9aD45qxbE
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  50. https://archive.fo/1XFO5
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  52. https://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL03585550._CH_.2400
  53. Are You An Independent Russian Judge? You're Fired, RobertAmsterdam.com
  54. Kim Zigfeld, Putin's Own Worst Enemy American Thinker, December 08, 2009
  55. http://larussophobe.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/editorial-another-russian-journalist-takes-the-putin-plunge
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  60. Donald Trump accuses Russia of taking Crimea by force in attempt to distance himself from campaign allegations
  61. Washington condemns arrests of hundreds of protesters against Vladimir Putin's government
  62. Tillerson: US to maintain Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia until Crimea is returned
  63. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4389332/Russia-calls-airstrikes-Syria-act-aggression.html
  64. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/world/middleeast/russia-iran-us-strikes-syria.html?_r=0
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  67. Putin Criticizes Trump Over Iran Nuclear Deal. Haaretz. June 10, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  68. Putin Shows Off New Nuclear Weapons, Warns West to ‘Listen’
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  71. https://thenationalpulse.com/analysis/putin-humiliated-biden-in-moscow-meeting/
  72. e.g. Alexandra Chalupa and Alexander Vindman
  73. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/missionquestfpb/shock-man-who-had-hunter-biden-s-laptop-suggests-t-t10669-s2420.html
  74. https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-court-declares-late-moscow-mayor-s-widow-wanted-after-failure-to-appear/30348065.html
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  76. https://dennismichaellynch.com/daily-newsletter/
  77. https://www.politico.eu/article/opinion-schroders-russian-sell-out/
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  79. https://www.bitchute.com/video/f1Ll6yw172sg/
  80. Putin is speaking of such events as the Beslan massacre
  81. 81.0 81.1 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-24/full-transcript-vladimir-putin-s-televised-address-to-russia-on-ukraine-feb-24
  82. https://tass.com/society/1454257
  83. https://youtu.be/rsSB_2RShBQ
  84. https://consortiumnews.com/2022/03/29/russia-ukraine-the-law-of-war-crime-of-aggression/
  85. https://www.icj-cij.org/en/case/141
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  87. Brandon Rottinghaus (February 13, 2015). Measuring Obama against the great presidents. The Brookings Institution.
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  89. https://archive.ph/5s7Cd
  90. https://sputniknews.com/20220921/indias-richest-person-gautam-adani-added-whopping-200-million-to-his-wealth-every-day-in-past-year-1101055399.html
  91. https://sputniknews.com/20220921/shoigu-russia-at-war-with-collective-west-rather-than-ukraine-1101029246.html
  92. https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1572480191108104193
  93. https://thesaker.is/president-putin-st-petersburg-international-economic-forum-plenary-session/
  94. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/eu-backs-ukraines-european-dream-putin-says-sanctions-cost-bloc-400bn-warns-fertilizer
  95. Dysfunction
  96. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69039
  97. http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2022/october/05/vladimir-putin-s-battle-cry-against-the-deep-state/
  98. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/69465
  99. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/69584
  100. https://youtu.be/e3YWaIq0fFk
  101. Vladimir Putin Address at the Valdai International Discussion Club 2022
  102. http://actual.pravo.gov.ru/text.html#pnum=0001202211090019
  103. https://youtu.be/eY7OnVctIPk
  104. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/70434
  105. https://youtu.be/l-2egU4YhZA
  106. Presidential Address to Federal Assembly, February 21, 2023.
  107. An article biased in favor of abortion but useful for its quotations
  108. https://www.rt.com/russia/538121-putin-children-swap-gender-monstrous/
  109. https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/russia-ukraine-latest-news-2022-03-30/card/putin-s-approval-rating-jumps-after-invasion-poll-shows-fm8f4uSdiVfTxORQOE0v
  110. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6sIZ8-C1vw
  111. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/vladimir_putin_452527
  112. https://www.rt.com/politics/putin-accuses-bolsheviks-treason-877/
  113. http://www.newsweek.com/russias-putin-says-he-always-liked-communist-socialist-ideas-419289
  114. https://pjmedia.com/faith/tyler-o-neil/2018/01/17/putin-soviet-communism-is-very-similar-to-christianity-party-rules-are-a-bible-excerpt-n101328
  115. Newman, Alex (January 16, 2018). Communism “Very Similar” to Christianity, Putin Claims. The New American. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  116. https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-russia-stalin-model-20150611-story.html
  117. https://www.quora.com/Is-Vladimir-Putin-personally-religious
  118. http://www.trevorloudon.com/2017/10/non-communist-putin-opens-major-international-communist-youth-festival/
  119. http://www.trevorloudon.com/2017/07/russia-to-host-major-international-communist-youth-festival-on-putins-instructions/
  120. https://westernfreepress.com/is-vladimir-putin-a-communist/
  121. https://www.trevorloudon.com/2017/12/is-vladimir-putin-a-communist/
  122. https://www.dw.com/es/la-alianza-estrat%C3%A9gica-de-maduro-y-putin/a-46618225
  123. https://www.infobae.com/america/venezuela/2019/06/06/vladimir-putin-volvio-a-respaldar-a-maduro-y-dijo-que-sus-asesores-militares-cumpliran-las-obligaciones-de-rusia-en-venezuela/
  124. https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/putin-his-communist-party-membership-card-i-still-keep-it-home
  125. https://themoscowtimes.com/news/putin-calls-for-revival-of-islamic-education-in-russia-60276
  126. https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/03/26/putin-insists-on-russian-law-in-chechnya-while-supporting-muslim-president/
  127. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chechnya-ramzan-kadyrov-gay-citizens-massacre-chechen-leader-do-not-exist-russia-vladimir-putin-a7675906.html
  128. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-12705300
  129. [https://www.forbes.com/sites/melikkaylan/2016/09/20/putin-brings-back-the-kgb-as-russia-moves-from-authoritarian-to-totalitarian/#48e4a416398a
  130. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32860526]
  131. Hannity: Examining key points from Russian indictments
  132. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10016725-colin-kaepernick-compares-nfl-combine-to-slavery-in-colin-in-black-and-white
  133. Parfitt, Tom (December 23, 2007). Spy who came in from the cold. The Guardian. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  134. https://youtu.be/YeNwyVG8Egs
  135. https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1202445
  136. https://www.ft.com/video/a49cfa25-610e-438c-b11d-5dac19619e08
  137. https://loveexpands.com/quotes/vladimir-putin-1324586/
  138. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/press_conferences/69366

External links