Putin's message to Federal Assembly: War with Ukraine, NATO threat, Transnistria ignored

The war against Ukraine

Throughout his speech, Putin touched upon the topic of Ukraine and the war about 26 times. In addition to the words "Ukraine," "Donbas," and "Crimea," he used propaganda phrases such as "legendary Russian spring 10 years ago," "special military operation (SVO)," "we did not start the war in Donbas," "Nazism," and "Novorossiya."

Additionally, the dictator acknowledged using the hypersonic sea-based missile system Zircon sea-based hypersonic missile system against Ukraine (experts have shown that on February 7, the aggressor country used such a missile for the first time during the attack on Kyiv). RBC-Ukraine wrote in its article that it knew about Putin's "Wunderwaffe," which he boasted about.

He also mentioned ongoing work on "a whole range of advanced types of weapons" in the country, including the finalization of testing for the long-range cruise missile Burevestnik and the unmanned underwater vehicle Poseidon.

Furthermore, Putin promised to demonstrate the ballistic missiles Sarmat on combat duty.

Threats to NATO with nuclear

In his address, the dictator once again threatened to use nuclear weapons against Western countries. He reacted to discussions in the West about possibly sending troops to Ukraine.

"Everything that the West invents really threatens a conflict involving the use of nuclear weapons and, therefore, the destruction of civilization," he said.

Putin specifically threatened NATO with "tragic" consequences.

"We have powerful weapons that we can use to strike targets on their territory... Do they not understand that there is a risk of nuclear war?" the President of Russia said.

He also stated that Russia's strategic nuclear forces "are in a state of full readiness."

At the same time, he called the thesis that Russia is preparing to attack Europe "a farce" and dismissed Western politicians' statements about the Kremlin's plans to deploy nuclear weapons as "fabrications."

Regarding the West, the dictator mentioned Western countries fewer times than Ukraine. In his speech, he referred to Western countries at least 15 times, traditionally using propaganda phrases like "the USA and their satellites."

Issues with birth rates and poverty in Russia

Remarkably, one of the key topics Putin addressed was birth rates. Against the backdrop of enormous losses against Ukraine, the dictator called for an increase in birth rates in the country. According to him, Russians must accomplish this task within 6 years.

So, Putin decided to "encourage" women to give birth, announcing that regions with birth rates lower than the average Russian rates would receive assistance - no less than 75 billion rubles.

Additionally, the dictator claimed to be "fighting poverty." According to him, 13.5 million (9%) Russians live below the poverty line (about 15 million according to Rosstat). Therefore, the dictator called for reducing this percentage to 7% by 2030.

Other topics

Regarding other parts of Putin's speech, there was a significant block dedicated to the Russian economy, "social issues." He touched on topics such as education, ecology, and more.

Interestingly, the dictator paid attention to the "painful" issue of alcoholism in Russia.

Speaking about the "Stop drinking - get on skis" program, Putin said that the government supposedly "reduced alcohol consumption in the country" (in fact, the proportion of those suffering from alcoholism increased, according to Rosstat, for the first time since 2021, against the backdrop of the war, as noted by Russian media).

Did he mention Transnistria?

Amid a series of media reports and online discussions suggesting that Transnistria may seek to join Russia (which has not happened yet, as the so-called deputies in Tiraspol only appealed to Russia "for protection" from Moldova yesterday), Putin made no statement regarding the unrecognized republic.