The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, celebrated former Tsar Peter the Great on the 350th anniversary of his birth and drew a parallel between what he depicted as their dual quests to reconquer Russian territory.
On Thursday, Putin mentioned that after seeing an exhibition dedicated to the Tsar, โPeter the Great waged the great northern invasion for 21 years. It would appear like he was at war with Sweden. He took something from them. He did not take anything from them. He returned [what was Russiaโs].โ
In an attempt to justify his war in Ukraine, now on its 107th day, Putin compared Peterโs campaign with Russiaโs present-day military endeavors.
Moreover, the Russian leader mentioned in the statement, โApparently, it also fell to us to return [what is Russiaโs] & empower [the country]. And if we proceed from the reality that these necessary values form the basis of our presence, we will certainly succeed in solving the tasks we face.โ
Putin has now been in power for over 23 years. He has recently tried justifying Russiaโs invasion of Ukraine, where Russian troops have destroyed cities, killed thousands, and tortured and raped many people, forcing millions of people to flee their homes. Putin has painted a picture of shared history between Russia and Ukraine that denies Ukraineโs national identity.
Before Putin visited the exhibition, Russian state television showed a documentary celebrating Peter the Great for his military escape in which he expanded Russian territory by conquering lands in Sweden and the Ottoman Empire while modernising the Russian army and navy.
Furthermore, โIt is impossible โ do you understand? โ impossible to build a fence across a nation like Russia. And we do not intend to build that fence,โ Putin highlighted.