At the turn of the year, Russian President Putin vowed to create a “united society” in his country. In a short New Year’s speech, he thanked the soldiers deployed at the front. He declared 2024 the “Year of the Family.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has invoked the unity and perseverance of the people of Russia. “We have shown more than once that we can solve the most difficult tasks and never back down, because there is no force that can divide us,” Putin said in his New Year’s speech.
He only mentioned Russia’s war against Ukraine in passing, without mentioning the neighboring country or the “special military operation” by name. “To everyone who is in a battlefield, on the front lines in the fight for truth and justice: you are our heroes, our hearts are with you. We are proud of you, we admire your courage,” Putin said outside the walls of the Kremlin.
Short speech
He did not provide information on the number of soldiers killed and wounded in Ukraine. Putin also did not address the conflict’s spillover into Russian territory, such as Saturday in the city of Belgorod near the border with Ukraine, where more than 20 people were killed and more than 100 injured.
Putin also did not discuss the mutiny of the head of the mercenary company “Wagner”, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash in August. The event attracted worldwide attention.
Last year, Putin delivered his speech with soldiers in the background and spoke of sacrifice and a fight for survival. At less than four minutes long, his speech this year was shorter than in 2022.
“Year of the Family”
Putin declared the New Year to be the “Year of the Family.” Russia, which is going through a “historic phase,” will be “even stronger” next year, he assured. In 2023, “we fiercely defended our national interests, our freedom and our security, our values,” he said.
Putin will stand for election as president in March. Given the weakness and suppression of the significant opposition forces, the 71-year-old believes victory is certain and thus a further extension of his 24-year period in power in Russia.
The recorded speech will be broadcast at midnight in each of Russia’s 11 time zones, starting with the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Chukotka region in the Russian Far East.