Vladimir Putin’s chilling confession about the Ukraine war: ‘We did it consciously’

Vladimir Putin has made a glaring admission about ordering the war on Ukraine adding Russia hasn’t lost anything because of it.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is blaming US and Western ally-imposed sanctions on energy disruptions. Picture: AFP.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has defiantly claimed that his nation hasn’t lost anything in the Ukraine war and has instead benefited from it.

The Russian leader’s words stand in stark contrast to Ukrainian government claims on Tuesday that at least 50,000 Russian soldiers have died since Mr Putin ordered them to invade Ukraine on February 24.

“I’m sure that we’ve lost nothing and won’t lose anything. The main thing we’ll gain is strengthening our sovereignty,” Mr Putin said at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, on Wednesday.

Mr Putin also asserted that Russia “will always protect our national interests while pursuing an independent policy course,” and reiterated that it seeks co-operation from partners who appreciate the same qualities.

Speaking at the event, which promotes investment in Russia’s far east, Mr Putin also rejected accusations that Russia has violated international law, calling the Ukrainian government an “illegitimate regime” and saying it was founded after a 2014 “coup”. He added that the armed invasion was undertaken “consciously”. Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs responded to the comments on Twitter, saying Russia’s “crime of aggression against Ukraine … is in plain sight”.

Putin has just publicly confessed to the crime of aggression against Ukraine: “We did it consciously”. I once again call on all states: back the creation of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine. The crime is in the plain sight. Justice must be served.

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) September 7, 2022

NORTH KOREA TO PROP UP UKRAINE WAR

North Korea is set to pump millions of military shells and rockets into Ukraine to resupply the Russian military machine straining from global sanctions, according to US military intelligence.

The Russian Ministry of Defence is said to be buying up the stocks of ammunition and equipment as it faces a counteroffensive in Kherson and a looming winter that threatens to create a stalemate across the frontline in harsh, freezing conditions.

US government officials downgraded the military intelligence to The New York Times to demonstrate the White House’s sanctions against Vladimir Putin were working.

“This purchase indicates that the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions”, an official told AP.

While the export of weapons from North Korea would be a violation of a United Nations resolution, the US did not provide details to independently verify the exact weaponry, timing or size of the shipment.

Vladimir Putin has turned to Kim Jong-un to resupply his war in Ukraine. Picture: AFP.

They told the Times that Russia was expected to purchase additional military equipment beyond the short-range rockets and artillery shells of its initial purchase.

It comes a day after Russia received its first shipments of drones from Iran in another sign that Moscow needed to look outward for additional supplies to reinforce its war machine.

North Korea recognised the independence of Ukraine territories in Donetsk and Luhansk in July, only the third country to do so after Russia and Syria.

RUSSIA BLACKLISTS HOLLYWOOD

Russia has black-listed another 25 US citizens including Hollywood actors Ben Stiller and Sean Penn, in response to sanctions from the US.

Western capitals – including Washington – have slapped Russia with a slew of unprecedented sanctions its over its offensive in pro-Western Ukraine.

Russia has already barred over a thousand US citizens from entering the country.

The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement the new names were added in response to the “ever-expanding” US sanctions “against Russian citizens”.

Apart from Stiller and Penn, who have both expressed support for Ukraine and met with its president Volodymyr Zelensky in June, the list also includes several US politicians.

They are banned from entering Russia “on a permanent basis”, the ministry said.

“The hostile actions of US authorities, which continue to follow a Russophobic course, destroying bilateral ties and escalating confrontation between Russia and the United States, will continue to be resolutely rebuffed,” the ministry said.

US actors Ben Stiller is one of the latest US actors to be black-listed from Russia. Picture: AFP.

American actor Sean Penn also won’t be entering Russia anytime soon or ever again. Picture: AFP.

CRUEL RUSSIAN MOVE COULD SPELL ‘CHAOS’ FOR EUROPE

Ukrainian troops are celebrating after reclaiming a village that had been overthrown by Russians.

Ukraine’s military moved to take back the village of Kherson in late August and have now succeeded, as part of its strong offensive against Russia.

Ukrainian soldiers were photographed flying their country’s flag on a telephone pole on Sunday morning, signalling the victory to Russia, reports The Sun.

The Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych told the Wall Street Journal the goal is the “systemic grinding of Putin’s army and that Ukrainian troops are slowly and systematically uncovering and destroying Russia’s operational logistical supply system with artillery and precision weapon strikes”.

Almost 50,000 Russian troops have reportedly died since the Ukraine war started.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visiting the frontline positions of the Ukrainian military during a trip to the Zaporizhzhia region. Picture: AFP

RUSSIA STOPS GAS TO EUROPE

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned residents and its European allies to prepare for a rough winter after Russia halted the flow of natural gas to the continent, reports New York Post.

“Where Russia cannot do it by force on conventional weapons, it does so by force of energy weapons,” Mr Zelenskyy said in a video message.

“It is trying to attack with poverty and political chaos where it cannot yet attack with missiles.

“This winter, Russia is preparing for a decisive energy attack on all Europeans … to weaken and intimidate the entire Europe, every state.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed US and Western ally-imposed sanctions for the technical disruptions to energy shipments. Picture: AFP.

His comments come after Russian gas company Gazprom suspended flow of natural gas to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea, after the discovery of an oil leak in a turbine.

Moscow blamed US and Western ally-imposed sanctions for the technical disruptions to energy shipments.

However, European nations have accused President Vladimir Putin of weaponising gas and oil exports as punishment for supporting Ukraine.

The Russian energy giant’s move could see mass shortages of gas across Europe, some experts have warned given the West’s dependence on Russian gas.

GERMANY TO SUPPORT UKRAINE

Germany has bolstered its military aid to Ukraine with heavy armaments, Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Schmygal said.

Mr Shmygal is the first high-level Ukrainian official to visit Germany in months, a sign of eased tensions between Kyiv and Berlin after a rocky patch.

Germany’s initial stuttering response on providing military support to Kyiv following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had sparked consternation.

A pile of remains of shells collected from the "Olvio Nuvo" vineyard near the village of Paroutyne, Mykolaiv Oblast. Picture: AFP.

But Shmygal acknowledged during his visit that Germany has since significantly stepped up its military aid, with heavy armaments such as the tank howitzer 2000 or MARS rocket launchers all “working well on the battle field”.

The air defence system Iris-T is expected to be delivered in the autumn, Mr Shmygal said, adding that Ukraine “hopes that Germany will become one of the leaders in the process of developing Ukrainian air defence”.

In a speech on his vision for Europe on Monday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz had said he saw Germany taking on “special responsibility” to help Ukraine build up its artillery and air defence systems.

MORE TROOPS HEAD TO LITHUANIA

About 100 hundred German soldiers arrived in Lithuania on Sunday, after Germany pledged to bolster its presence on NATO’s eastern flank following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The troops drove off the ferry in the port city of Klaipeda. They were to make up the command unit of a new brigade, a group usually made up of around 4,000 soldiers.

“Our message to our allies here, on the eastern flank, is that we are committed to ensuring security,” said the brigade’s commander Christian Nawrat.

The command unit would remain permanently in the Baltic nation, while combat units would join them for exercises, he added.

A high-ranking member of the German military said the first drills could be held in October.

Germany, which heads up a NATO battle group in Lithuania, already has around 1,500 German soldiers in Lithuania.

The formerly Soviet-ruled Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which are all now EU and NATO members, are worried they could be next if Russia defeats Ukraine.

Since the start of the conflict, they have asked for more NATO troops and the creation of brigades to replace the current units.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz in June said his country was ready to deploy more troops to Lithuania “towards a robust combat brigade that can operate both as a deterrent and defend against an aggression”.

NATO has strengthened its eastern flank in recent years, particularly since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

In 2017, four multinational battle groups were deployed to the three Baltic states and Poland.

Following the start of the Russian invasion in late February, NATO has decided to set up four new battle groups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.

— with AFP

Originally published as Vladimir Putin’s chilling confession about the Ukraine war: ‘We did it consciously’