Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sept. 30 vowed that "all the intended goals will be achieved" in Ukraine, in a speech marking the second anniversary of something the Kremlin has yet to achieve.
In a video message to the Russian public, Putin said he was addressing his people to "celebrate the Day of Reunification with Russia of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, Zaporizhia and Kherson Regions."
Putin declared the illegal annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts in September 2022, despite only partially occupying the southern and eastern areas of Ukraine in question.
A Ukrainian counteroffensive just weeks later liberated great swathes of the Kherson Oblast territory, including the provincial capital, claimed by Russia.
The regional capitals of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia remain under Ukrainian control, while Luhansk and Donetsk have been occupied by Russia since 2014.
"I cordially congratulate all citizens of our country on this truly fateful event," Putin said.
The Russian president also took aim at Ukraine's Western allies, who he claimed have "turned Ukraine into their colony, into a military base aimed at Russia."
"They systematically instilled hatred and radical nationalism, incited hostility towards everything Russian, supplied weapons, sent mercenaries and advisers, prepared the Ukrainian army for a new war, so that again, as in the spring and summer of 2014, they could carry out a punitive action in the southeast," he added.
"I thank all citizens of the country for this unity and patriotic spirit. The truth is on our side. All the intended goals will be achieved."
Putin's original goals in his full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in early 2022 were to “liberate the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, "demilitarize and denazify" the country which in the Kremlin's eyes, envisioned the removal of its Jewish president, and the occupation of its capital city Kyiv.
After swiftly failing to achieve these goals, with the exception of Russian forces occupying all of Luhansk Oblast, Putin was forced to lower his ambitions and earlier this month said Russia's "main goal" was to capture all of Ukraine's eastern Donbas area that also includes the adjacent Donetsk Oblast.
Chris York
