Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that the past year was a year of pivotal events, laying the foundation for the future and the independence that Russia is fighting for to protect its people in its historical territories.

"This has been a year of truly fateful events; they have become the frontier that lays the foundation for our common future, our true independence. This is what we are fighting for today, protecting our people in our own historical territories in the new regions of the Russian Federation, building and creating together," Putin indicated in his New Year's address to Russians.

The Russian President assured Russians that the "historical" truth is on the side of Moscow.

"Moral, historical truth is on our side," he said.

West assured Russia of peaceful Intentions, but supported neo-Nazis in Ukraine

According to Putin, Western elites have been professing their peaceful intentions, including in Donbass for years, but were in fact supporting neo-Nazis.

"For years, Western elites have hypocritically assured us of their peaceful intentions, including the resolution of the complicated conflict in Donbass. In reality, they encouraged neo-Nazis in every possible way, who continued to conduct military and simply terrorist actions against peaceful citizens of the people's republics of Donbas," Putin said.

West using Ukrainians to split and weaken Russia

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Russian President considered that the West is using the people of Ukraine to divide and weaken Russia, stressing that this will never happen.

"[Western countries] are cynically using Ukraine and its people to weaken and split Russia. We have never allowed and will not allow anyone to do this," Putin said in his New Year's address.

The Russian leader highlighted that Russia has been living under sanctions since 2014, but this year the West has declared a sanctions war, however, according to Putin, it has failed to achieve its goals.

Peskov: Putin addressed Russians from Southern Military District headquarters

In the same context, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his New Year address to the nation from the headquarters of the Southern Military District.

This year, in a break with tradition, Putin did not address citizens from the Kremlin, but alongside soldiers taking part in the war in Ukraine.

According to Peskov, the Russian leader visited the headquarters of the Southern Military District this morning where he talked to commanders and presented banners to army corps, including from Donetsk and Lugansk, adding that the President presented awards to soldiers who showed courage and heroism during the Ukraine war.

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