Moscow [Russia], January 1: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his country believes it will win the war in Ukraine, nearly four years after he launched an invasion of the neighbouring nation, in comments made during his televised annual New Year's Eve address.
The Russian leader called on the country on Wednesday to "support our heroes" fighting in Ukraine, where troops have been waging a brutal offensive since February 2022.
"We believe in you and our victory," he said, although the outcome of the conflict remains far from determined amid concerted peace negotiations and ongoing intensive fighting on the battlefield.
The speech came 26 years after Putin's predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, unexpectedly announced his resignation during his New Year's Eve address, handing power at the turn of the millennium to Putin, a former intelligence officer turned politician who had served for months as his prime minister.
Putin has since reshaped the country in his image, and made several positive references to the rule of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and sought to banish what he has described as years of humiliation after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. There have been fears in Europe that the Kremlin's Ukraine war could spillover into its borders if it doesn't end soon.
Earlier, Russia's defence ministry had released a video that it claimed showed a downed drone that had been involved in an attempted Ukrainian attack on one of Putin's residences in Novgorod, a region in northwestern Russia, this week.
Kiev denies any attack took place, accusing Moscow of having fabricated the claim in a false flag attempt to justify further aggression. Russia has said it will take a harder line in US-brokered peace negotiations over Ukraine as a result of the alleged attack, which it has labelled a "terrorist" act.
Moscow has said that the alleged attack was thwarted when 91 drones were shot down by air defences, and that no one was injured and Putin's residence was unscathed.
Source: Qatar Tribune
