Ukraine war: Putin raises stakes in speech full of anti-Western bile - BBC - 30.09.22

This week, one Russian newspaper, Moskovsky Komsomolets, concluded: "Vladimir Putin has nowhere to retreat. So, he'll continue to attack." so says Steve Rosenberg BBC Russia Editor, Moscow

Vladimir Putin's decision to annex the four Ukrainian territories ("incorporate" in Kremlinspeak) is the Russian president's latest offensive in his battle with Ukraine and the West. Through annexation, the Kremlin is trying to change the facts on the ground (at a time when Russia has been losing ground in Ukraine).

Mr Putin wants to present a fait accompli to Kyiv and to the West. It raises the stakes considerably in the president's standoff with Ukraine and the Western world.

The Kremlin event was carefully choreographed for maximum patriotic effect: plenty of applause for the president from the invited audience; a stirring rendition of the national anthem; and Mr Putin and the four Kremlin-appointed administrators of the annexed territories clasping hands and chanting "Russia! Russia!" along with everyone in the hall.

But declaring "this is my land now" doesn't make it true. Especially in the light of the so-called "referendums" in the occupied territories, which were not real referendums at all. They were Kremlin-conceived, Kremlin-controlled events designed as a smokescreen for Moscow to grab 15% of Ukraine's territory. Ukraine will not accept this annexation; neither will the international community as a whole.

"The United States will never, never, never recognise Russia's claim on Ukraine sovereign territory," US President Joe Biden said on Thursday, while UN Secretary General António Guterres had already said the annexation "would have no legal value and deserves to be condemned".

But that still leaves the question: what now? How will Mr Putin respond when Ukrainian troops push on to try to reclaim their land?

Russia has already warned that any attack on its "new territories" will be viewed as an attack on the territorial integrity of Russia. The Kremlin says it reserves the right to respond "with all means available to it".

That includes, potentially, nuclear weapons. In recent weeks, senior Russian officials have been dropping unsubtle hints about Moscow's nuclear arsenal.

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Ukraine war - Putin raises stakes in speech full of anti-Western bile - By Steve Rosenberg

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Mr Putin and the four Kremlin-appointed administrators of the annexed territories clasping hands and chanting "Russia! Russia!" along with everyone in the hall.