Putin at pro-war rally: Russia is fighting for its 'historical lands' in Ukraine | DW News

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has tried to rally his people -- nearing the anniversary of a war which is not going his way. He urged Russians to get behind the war in Ukraine as the one-year mark approaches on Friday and called frontline Russian troops 'defenders of the Fatherland' and said Moscow is fighting for what he called its 'historical lands' in Ukraine.

Almost a year ago, Russia has started invading Ukraine, but then we saw Russia lose troops, lose the initiative lose momentum. Could they recover?

Follow DW on social media:
#UkraineWar #Putin #Military

[TheMilpitasguy]

So, it wasn't about de-Nazify or protecting ethnic Russians in Donbas. It was really about "historical lands" which no one else agrees is theirs to begin with.

[emikomina]

Historical lands? Then Mongolia owns most of Russia then since the Mongol Empire was gigantic in its heyday.

[j.osborne]

Funny how most of those historical lands don't want to be in the Russian sphere

[katynewt]

Russia seems to be so concerned with "historical lands" and yet we all know it would never give up Siberia willingly in that same logic...

[oraclex]

What about the "historical lands" of the Adyghs, Balkars, Bashkirs, Buryats, Chechens, Cherkess, Chuvash, Dagestanis, Ingush, Kabardins, Kalmyks, Karachay, Komi, Tatars, Udmurts, Ossetians, Mordvins, Sakha, Udmurts, Yakuts and other colonized peoples? They were there before the Russians.

[philips]

Cheering for a man that sent your sons, husbands and fathers to their needless deaths and sufferings while killing innocent people in their own lands is horrendous

[BlackyBrownDestruction]

That’s like Mexico fighting for the west half of the United States

[omidpourhossein]

Ukrainians in this horrible war are the most impressive people I ever had the chance to witness. Women and children who had to flee the country are already returning to support their family and country. The people staying there from the beginning are incredible brave and strong willed and still keep their humanity side alive . So different from the Russians fighting in Ukraine and those staying at home hiding behind "What can I do" and "I am apolitical"

[abrahamboniface]

All I see is Pure Desperation from Putin!

[tonyjaz]

Ukraine is older than Russia! Kievean rus is the ancient name of ‘KIEV ‘ is where Russia branched out from eastward.

[nibson]

If those are historic lands I think China might have something to say about a whole lot of eastern Russia.

[EyFmS]

Historical lands?


Kaliningrad : *sweats profusely*.

[ricardomadleno]

So the truth finally comes out of that criminal’s mouth it’s about the land it always has been. Evil shall perish.

[michaelpietrzak]

Slava Ukraine victory to Ukraine victory to freedom 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

[Blaize]

"Historical lands" - is he giving back Karelia, Kaliningrad, Manchuria and other places then? 🙄

[bellezayverdad]

If they're so concerned by 'historical lands', they could begin by returning Ost-Preußen to Germany, which was 700 years German, going back to the times of the Teutonic Knights, together with its capital Königsberg, where Kant used to go for his long walks. Begin there and bring all those Russian colonizers back to the main land.

[hhKJgfMarzthP]

If you have a state job in Russia, is it mandatory to visit such events? Is it true that students get paid to attend these events? It's frightening, the atmosphere is similar to the one in Germany in the 30s.

[cameron]

The Soviet Union transferred the Crimean oblast in 1954 to the Ukrainian SSR and then recognised (as Russia) the independence of Ukraine in 1991 in the dissolution of the Soviet Union and then further guaranteed Ukraine's security, sovereignty and territorial integrity in 1994 as part of the Budapest Memorandum. These were conscious decisions made by the Russian state, noone forced them to give these lands up. Any claim of Ukraine being Russia's historic lands is hypocrisy in this light.

[zakariyeyahye]

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — George Santayana

[braider]

So Mongolia wants its historical land back…