Russian President Vladimir Putin called upon the Ukrainian military to overthrow its government, chastising its leadership as a “band of drug addicts and neo-Nazis.”
Accusing Ukraine’s first Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelensky, of holding the nation hostage and said the goal of his invasion was to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine.
RUSSIA AIMS TO ‘SACK’ KYIV AND IMPLEMENT ‘REGIME CHANGE’: FORMER NATO COMMANDER
“I am addressing the servicemen of Ukraine’s Armed Forces once again: Do not let neo-Nazi and Bandera supporters use your children, your wives, and seniors as a human shield. Take matters into your own hands,” Putin said Friday, according to Russian state news agency TASS. “It seems that you and I will have a better chance of reaching an agreement than with that gang of junkies and neo-Nazis that are holed up in Kyiv and is holding hostage the entire Ukrainian nation.”
Military experts, such as former NATO Commander Wesley Clark, said they believe Putin’s chief military objective is to achieve regime change in Ukraine. So far, there is no evidence that the Ukrainian military is poised to oust Zelensky. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that he is is “convinced” Putin is trying to oust Ukraine’s government.
Putin has previously dismissed the Ukrainian government as a “puppet regime” of the West and seemingly wants to replace it with a puppet regime of his own.
Russian propagandists have attempted to portray Ukraine as a hotbed of Nazism and corruption. In a speech on the eve of Russia’s invasion, Zelensky countered Russia’s accusations of Nazism in Ukraine and called for peace.
“You are told we are Nazis, but how can a people support Nazis that gave more than 8 million lives for the victory over Nazism? How can I be a Nazi? Tell my grandpa, who went through the whole war in the infantry of the Soviet Army and died as a colonel in independent Ukraine,” he said, according to a translation. “You are told we hate Russian culture. How can one hate a culture? … Neighbors always enrich each other culturally. However, that doesn’t make them a single whole. It doesn’t dissolve us into you. We are different, but that is not a reason to be enemies.”
In response to Putin’s remarks Friday, Ukraine’s government posted an image on Twitter depicting Nazi leader Adolf Hitler showing affection for a tiny Putin.
— Ukraine / Україна (@Ukraine) February 24, 2022
On Thursday, Putin accused Ukraine of committing “genocide” against its Russian-speaking citizens in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine has been engaged in an internal military confrontation against the Russia-backed separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, also known as Donbas. Russia has recognized those regions as independent states.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Russia has been bombarding Ukraine from multiple fronts, including from Belarus, the Black Sea, Crimea, and the Russian mainland. As Russia overwhelms Ukrainian forces on the outskirts of the country, a key focal point for Russia has been Kyiv. Zelensky is believed to have been moved to a bunker and said publicly that he moved his family out of the city to a secret location. He told European leaders Thursday night that he believes Russian forces may soon kill him, Axios reported.
Zelensky said he believes Russia will attempt to take control of Kyiv overnight on Friday into Saturday.
Highly motivated Ukrainian forces have put up strong resistance to Russian aggression. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claims nearly 3,000 Russian soldiers have been killed. If true, the Russian death toll is higher than the total reported casualties of U.S. soldiers in the 20-year occupation of Afghanistan. Still, U.S. intelligence reportedly believes Ukraine will ultimately fall before Russia’s military might.
