part 1
Putin to the people of the Western world: "Everything is a lie"
Foreign

March 17, 2022

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The war in Ukraine is going as planned, the "global dominance" of the western world is coming to an end and those who live in the western world are being led behind the light of Russia and the war in Ukraine. This is what Russian President Vladimir Putin claims.
- Everything is a lie! he claims.

Putin gave a 40-minute speech on Wednesday night during a video conference with governors and mayors of Russia. Unexpectedly, the speech was dominated by Russia's relations with the West, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Or "the special military operation in Ukraine and the Donbass", as he prefers to call the war.

Genocide and weapons of mass destruction
The Russian president begins the speech by claiming that the Russians living in the Donbass for eight years have been subjected to a "genocide" with "terrorist attacks and constant artillery fire" from the Ukrainian side. More than 14,000 people have been killed in the war in the Donbass, according to the UN, of which about 3,000 are civilians. Most civilian casualties were claimed in 2014, at the beginning of the war. The figure of 14,000 is also used by Putin.

In addition, Putin reiterated accusations against Ukraine that it had tried to produce weapons of mass destruction, both biological and nuclear, and that during the winter it had prepared a major offensive against Donbass.

READ MORE: US confirms "biological research center" in Ukraine

Together with Ukraine's decision to join NATO, something that even the country's constitution was adapted for 2019, Putin's cup finally overflowed.

"Our repeated warnings that such a development poses a direct threat to Russia's security have, with arrogant and cynical contempt, been dismissed by Ukraine and its protectors, the United States and NATO," Putin said.

- Thus, all diplomatic opportunities were completely exhausted. We were simply left without any options to peacefully resolve the issues that arose without our fault. Therefore, we simply had to launch a special military operation.

"Going according to plan"
According to the Ukrainian General Staff , Russia has suffered heavy losses in Ukraine. About 14,000 Russians are said to have fallen or been injured and more than 400 tanks and 1,400 tanks were knocked out. It is alleged that more than 80 fighter jets and more than 100 helicopters were shot down.

According to US intelligence sources, 7,000 Russian soldiers have been killed and between 14,000 and 21,000 injured, writes the New York Times.

It has been more than two weeks since Russia presented official data on its own losses. It was then claimed that the Ukrainian losses were significantly greater than the Russian ones.

READ ALSO: Russia: SO big are our losses

According to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War , Russia is facing "growing difficulties" in Ukraine. Although Mariupol will probably be forced to surrender "in the coming weeks", the Russian troops will not succeed in any major offensives. The picture that is being painted is that the Russian troops are stuck.

However, Putin insists that the military operation goes according to plan.

- The effort is successful, completely in line with the prepared plan, he claims in his speech.