UKRAINE: THE SITUATION 665 - DECEMBER 19, 2023

The Russian President Vladimir Putin increasingly relies on the Kremlin's pseudo-historical rhetoric from before the invasion to present himself as a modern Russian tsar and justify the invasion of Ukraine as a historically justified imperial reconquest.

In his address to the Russian Ministry of Defense on December 19, Putin largely repeated the Kremlin's standard rhetoric on the war in Ukraine, blaming NATO and the entire West for encroaching on Russia's borders and apologizing for the problems of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine by blaming the Russian defense bureaucracy. Putin also praised Russian operations on the battlefield and the net production of the Russian defense industry in 2023, touching on some of his standard themes. Putin again invoked the concept of "compatriots abroad" when referring to the residents of "Southeast Ukraine," whom he described as historically, culturally, and linguistically connected to Russia, to justify the invasion of Ukraine for ideological reasons.

The complete Russian Offensive Update 665 is available directly from UNDERSTANDING WAR.

UNDERSTANDING WAR