Three days before the anniversary of the Russian invasion of UkraineVladimir Putin has accused the West of using Ukraine as a “testing ground” for its plans to “destroy Russia”.
In his speech, the Russian president accused the United States and its European allies of wanting to start a war in Europe and split Russia with “puppet forces.” “They plan to end us once and for all,” he said.
On the morning of the invasion, the Kremlin spoke of a “special military operation” to save Crimea and eastern Donbas from “the humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kyiv regime.” Since then, the rhetoric has changed.
“We are not planning to occupy the territory of Ukraine. We are not going to impose anything on anyone by force,” Putin said at the time.but his statements now seem almost graphic in the light of the brutal war to preserve and expand the territory in Ukraine held by the troopsRussia,” says the Washington Post.
Putin is now creating an image of a Western-instigated war that threatens Russia’s existence. And this narrative resonates, especially in the Global South, where some countries see the United States as an interventionist strategy. These are countries that have not taken an open position.
