Putin: Ukraine ‘Reduced to Level of Colony With Puppet Regime’

Two years have now passed since Vladimir Putin addressed the nation to lay out the historic background for acknowledging the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR, LPR).

On February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an address to the nation where he elaborated on the deteriorating situation in Ukraine at the time.

“Do Ukrainians understand that their country is not even under a political and economic protectorate, but that it was reduced to the level of a colony with a puppet regime?” he said.

In his speech, the president touched upon several different aspects of the Ukrainian crisis and persisting military hostilities in Donbass that had been going on for eight years at the time.

“Ukraine is not just a neighboring country to us. It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture, spiritual space. They are our comrades, kin, among whom are not only our colleagues, ex-colleagues and friends, but also relatives, people who are connected to us by bonds of blood and family,” Putin emphasized.

The two regions resisted the new Kiev authorities ever since radical putschists seized power, violating the Constitution after the Maidan coup in February 2014.

Check out Sputnik's infographics to read some of the highlights from Putin’s speech that laid the foundation for the regions to eventually join Russia.