Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that his country would never give in to Western attempts to use Ukraine as a tool to destroy Russia, Reuters reported.

In a New Year’s message broadcast on state television, Putin said Russia was fighting in Ukraine to defend its “motherland” and ensure “true independence” for its people.

In the nine-minute message – the longest New Year’s speech in his two decades in power – Putin accused the West of lying to Russia and provoking Moscow to launch a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

“For years, Western elites have hypocritically assured us of their peaceful intentions,” he said in a videotaped speech to Russian servicemen at the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District.

Vladimir Putin, the New Year’s message is very different from those of the last two decades

“They actually encouraged neo-Nazis in every possible way, who resorted to open terrorism against the civilian population in Donbas,” Putin said in an extremely combative New Year’s speech, usually devoted to good wishes for the coming year.

“The West lied about peace. It was preparing for aggression… and is now cynically using Ukraine and its people to weaken and split Russia,” Putin said.

“We have never allowed this and we will not allow anyone to do it to us,” Russian state news agencies quoted Putin as saying.

Earlier on Saturday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that victory in Ukraine was “inevitable”, praising the heroism of Russian soldiers fighting on the front lines and those who died during the 10-month war.

Putin’s armed forces launched another missile strike on Ukraine on the last day of the year, triggering an air alert across the country.