Vladimir Putin facing the nation. The Russian president delivers his traditional speech to the Russian people on Thursday, February 29, two weeks before an unopposed presidential election. “Today I will talk to you about the future and our strategic objectives”declared the Kremlin leader as a preamble to his speech. “We have repelled the aggression of international terrorism, our homeland defends its sovereignty and security in Donbass”, he added. Follow our live stream.
A speech in a more favorable context. Vladimir Putin appears in better shape than a year ago, when his army was subject to humiliating retreats in the south and north-east of Ukraine. Since then, the Ukrainian army has failed in its counter-offensive launched in the summer of 2023 and finds itself on the defensive, lacking ammunition, due to lack of agreement in Washington, facing more numerous and better armed Russian soldiers.
Major advances on the eastern front. The Russian army managed to seize in mid-February of the fortress town of Avdiïvka and continues its push in this sector, to the great satisfaction of Vladimir Putin, who welcomed “an important victory”. This loss of the city constitutes the greatest Ukrainian defeat after the failure of the counter-offensive.
The themes of the speech kept secret. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to discuss the themes of the speech, saying only that the president wrote it personally. Vladimir Putin, for his part, declared that his speech would take “Of course” take into account the presidential election organized from March 15 to 17 and would make it possible to set “objectives for the next six years at least”either the duration of the mandate of the head of state in Russia.
Transnistria asks for support from Russia. The authorities of this pro-Russian separatist region of Moldova adopted an official declaration on Wednesday demanding the “protection” of Russia against the Moldovan government. According to this statement, cited by Russian news agencies, the separatist authorities are asking Moscow to “implement measures to protect Transnistria in conditions of increased pressure from Moldova”with notably “an economic blockade”.