In a video message released last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Western elites had transformed Ukraine into a “military outpost’ aimed at undermining Russian interests.

During the address, Putin said: “We did not abandon our brothers and sisters but sought to achieve a peaceful resolution to this grave conflict. You know how those talks ended: with lies, deceit, and betrayal by the Western elites, who in that time turned Ukraine into their colony, into a military outpost aimed at Russia”

He also accused the West of “systematically instilling hatred and radical nationalism” in Ukraine and providing Kiev with weapons to prepare its military for a “new war.”

“The subsequent developments fully confirmed the need for and validity of the special military operation and its genuinely liberating nature,” he added.