Ukraine warns of Putin plot to revive Soviet era ‘New Berlin Wall?’

Vladimir Putin’s speech broadcasted yesterday in which he recognised the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as separatist provinces independent of Ukraine represents a significant increase of tensions between the two countries. Putin said he was confident that Russian citizens supported the announcement after considering requests from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR).

The Ukrainian Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov drew parallels between Putin’s latest move and Soviet Russia.

He said via Twitter: “The Kremlin did not recognise self-proclaimed DPR/LPR - [it] recognised its own aggression against [Ukraine].

“We remain confident and calm. We are ready and able to defend ourselves and our sovereignty.

“World cannot be silent. Sanctions?

“Another brick in the wall? New Berlin Wall?”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson criticised Putin’s decision, and called it a breach of international law.

He added that Putin’s latest move was an “ill omen” and a “dark sign” that things are moving in the wrong direction between Ukraine and Russia.

Euractiv described parts of Putin’s speech yesterday as a “distortion of history”.

Many of Putin’s statements echo Soviet mentalities towards the West - criticising it as motivated by greed and selling a false paradise to its citizens.

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Putin also cited the history of Ukraine as though it were entirely created by Russia, and claimed that Ukraine had long been rife with Russophobia and Neo-nazism.

He said: “It was from the very first steps that the Ukrainian authorities began to build their statehood on the denial of everything that unites us.

“They sought to distort the consciousness, the historical memory of millions of people, entire generations living in Ukraine"

Not surprisingly, Ukrainian society faced the rise of extreme nationalism, which quickly took the form of aggressive Russophobia and neo-Nazism.”

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Putin’s speech also echoed Soviet attitudes in its criticism of Western values.

Having described Ukraine as facing an “acute socio-economic crisis,” Putin attributes the struggle to Ukraine’s relationship with the West.

He said: “Industries such as mechanical engineering, instrumentation, electronics, shipbuilding and aircraft building are either lying on their side or completely destroyed, and in fact they were once proud not only of Ukraine but of the entire Soviet Union.

“Is poverty, hopelessness, the loss of industrial and technological potential – this is the very pro-Western civilisational choice that has been fooling and fooling millions of people for many years, promising them paradise?”