Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to inflict a “bloodbath” if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky opposes a new Kremlin maneuver to break away vast swathes of Ukrainian territory from the central government.
“And those who seized the power and keep the power in Kyiv, we demand [they] stop hostilities immediately,” Putin said Monday through a state media interpreter. “Otherwise, all the responsibility for the possible continuation of the bloodbath will be on the consciousness [conscience] of the regime that is ruling in Kyiv.”
Moments before that threat, Putin announced that he would back “the independence and sovereignty of Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic,” the names used by the Ukraine-based Russian proxies that have functioned as the public face of the conflict in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine since 2014. Those entities have allowed Putin to portray the fighting as an internal civil war between separatists and the Ukrainian central government, but Western officials and even a Russian judge have stated that Russian military forces are occupying those areas.
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Putin delivered the speech one day after the scheduled end of military drills that entailed the mass mobilization of Russian forces around Ukrainian borders at positions that enable them not only to move into the Donbas region but even to threaten the Ukrainian capital. Putin portrayed the decision as “long overdue” after years of trying to pressure Ukrainian officials to agree to a political deal that would give his proxies “special status” under a revised Ukrainian constitution.
“It’s certainly a very concrete further escalatory step,” a senior European official told the Washington Examiner. “In overall trajectory, though, this has not brought about a fundamental change — the Russian military is still ready to move at any given moment.”
That official interpreted Putin’s “bloodbath” remark as a threat to widen the war against Ukraine if Zelensky resists the formation of those entities. Putin did not make clear whether Russian forces would remain within the territory that already has been wrested away from Ukrainian control or if they would try to drive the Ukrainian military out of other parts of the Donbas region.
In any case, the Kremlin chief implied that the idea of a wider war “quite suits us,” as he argued that “modern Ukraine was entirely and completely created by Russia” — specifically, Vladimir Lenin, who led the Bolshevik revolution that overthrew the Russian czar and led to the founding of the Soviet Union.
“Now, grateful descendants have demolished monuments to Lenin in Ukraine. This is what they call de-communization,” Putin said. “Do you want de-communization? Well, this quite suits us. But you must not stop halfway. We are ready to show you what genuine de-communization means for Ukraine.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson characterized Putin’s move as “a very ill omen and a very dark sign” for the unfolding crisis.
“The U.K. will continue to do all it can to stand by the people of Ukraine with a very robust set of sanctions, fortifying the eastern flank of NATO, and being one of the few countries to give Ukraine the defensive weaponry it needs,” he told reporters Monday. “It is becoming clear that we are going to need to start applying as much pressure as we possibly can because it is hard to see how this situation improves.”
The announcement likewise drew a rebuke from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who implied that Putin’s aggressive course might not stop with the Donbas region.
“Moscow continues to fuel the conflict in eastern Ukraine by providing financial and military support to the separatists. It is also trying to stage a pretext to invade Ukraine once again,” he said. “NATO supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. Allies urge Russia, in the strongest possible terms, to choose the path of diplomacy, and to immediately reverse its massive military build-up in and around Ukraine, and withdraw its forces from Ukraine in accordance with its international obligations and commitments.”
Ukraine is not a member of NATO, however. The United States and some European countries have provided Ukraine with limited military aid and other forms of economic and military support, but they have made clear that the trans-Atlantic alliance will not wage war on behalf of Ukraine, which leaves Zelensky in a difficult contest with a Russian leader confident in the superiority of Russia’s military over Ukraine’s.
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“I guess he has to continue what he has done thus far — consolidate and prepare Ukrainian resilience and deterrence, rally international support, and be very vocal about readiness for diplomacy,” the senior European official said.
