Russian President Vladimir Putin skipped his traditional, long-winded annual press conference last year—for good reason. Despite the sweet nothings churned out by the Kremlin’s propaganda machine, his war of choice in Ukraine wasn’t going well. In March and April 2022, the mighty Russian army was forced to give up on its quest to take Kyiv. In September, it ran away like a bunch of headless chickens as the Ukrainian army executed a stealth counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region. Two months later, Russian forces left Kherson city.
This year, things are looking a bit better for the Russians, although the bar is very low. Despite losing approximately 315,000 men to death and injury since the war began in February 2022, Putin apparently thought it was safe to take questions again. Similar to past end-of-year news conferences, the four-hour session was a stew of revisionist history, West-bashing, delusions, and steely self-confidence.
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