ISTANBUL

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday claimed that Western elites have turned Ukraine into a “military outpost” as the country marks the second anniversary of its illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions.

“We did not abandon our brothers and sisters but sought to achieve a peaceful resolution to this grave conflict. You know how those talks ended: with lies, deceit, and betrayal by the Western elites, who in that time turned Ukraine into their colony, into a military outpost aimed at Russia,” Putin said in a video address.

He further accused the West of “systematically instilling hatred and radical nationalism” in Ukraine and providing Kyiv with weapons to prepare its military for a “new war.”

“The subsequent developments fully confirmed the need for and validity of the special military operation and its genuinely liberating nature,” he added.

On Sept. 30, 2022, Russia annexed four Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson – following referendums that were widely condemned as illegal by the international community, including Türkiye.