Russian offensive in Ukraine: Kremlin admits “war”

For the first time in more than two years, the Kremlin, the seat of Russian power, admitted that a “war” was in progress. Russia “is in a state of war,” a Kremlin spokesman admitted in an interview published this Friday, suggesting, however, that this war was not waged against Ukraine, but as a defensive conflict of Russia against “the West.”

“We are at war. Yes, it started as a special operation, but as soon as this whole gang was formed, when the collective West participated in all this on the side of Ukraine, it became a war for us. I am convinced of this, and everyone should understand this,” Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Argumenty i Fakty.

“Special Military Operation”

In February 2022, Moscow launched a “special military operation” against Ukraine and increased laws banning media from using the words “war” or “invasion.” For two years, Vladimir Putin and all officials adhered to this lexical register, designed to position Russia as a freedom fighter, 80 years after World War II, fighting the Nazification of Ukraine.

Peskov argues that “the main thing for us is to protect the residents” of Ukrainian regions that Russia unilaterally annexed, with its army controlling only part of them, and which he says are “occupied” by Kiev. “Russia cannot allow the existence on its borders of a state that has a documented intention to take Crimea away from it by any means, not to mention the territories of new regions,” he assures.