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Mr. Putin, the mic is yours
For the first time in almost two years, Russia’s president addressed both houses of Parliament in a major speech on the state of the Federation
On Tuesday, February 21, 2023, Vladimir Putin addressed both houses of Russia’s Parliament. Meduza covered the speech’s main points in this live blog. You can watch the Russian-language feed yourself here.
21 февраля 2023 г. 05:19:03
What is Russia’s Federal Assembly address?
Last year, Vladimir Putin shirked his presidential duty under Article 84 of Russia’s Constitution and failed to address the nation’s combined national legislature: the State Duma and Federation Council, known together as the Federal Assembly. The obvious reason for Putin’s delay was the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which is now just a few days from its one-year mark. In past Federal Assembly addresses, Putin has both bored and surprised audiences. Like his presidencies over the past two decades, Putin’s annual speeches have grown more hawkish with time. In March 2018, for example, the president unveiled an arsenal of prototype advanced weapons, even showing a video depicting a potential nuclear strike against the State of Florida.
President Putin sometimes uses the Federal Assembly address for domestic initiatives, also, like in January 2020, when he suddenly proposed a series of constitutional amendments. At first, his proposals generated speculation that he might be reorganizing Russia’s executive branch in order to secure his own exit from politics. Instead, the amendment process kickstarted reforms that will allow Putin to run for another two six-year terms in office.
21 февраля 2023 г. 10:29:58
The area around Moscow’s Gostiny Dvor, where Putin’s address will take place, is closed to traffic. Everyone on the guest list, which include veterans of the war against Ukraine, was required to quarantine and take PCR tests in advance of the event, and their temperatures are reportedly being checked at the building’s entrance.
21 февраля 2023 г. 10:35:19
According to Russian state media, Putin’s address will be shown on enormous outdoor screens in cities throughout the country.
21 февраля 2023 г. 10:41:39
Now’s your time to make some coffee. Putin’s address will last at least one hour, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Peskov also noted that Russia was “carefully observing” U.S. President Joe Biden’s Monday visit to Kyiv, and will be following developments in Poland. Four hours after Putin takes the stage in Moscow, Biden is set to make a speech in Warsaw.
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:04:30
Everyone is assembled now, waiting patiently in near silence. Putin’s speech will begin soon (or whenever he feels like it).
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:08:21
The speech is now underway. Putin begins with the war in Ukraine, reaffirming Moscow’s commitment to the invasion and repeating the supposedly peaceful reasons for Russia’s involvement.
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:13:14
Putin says that Kyiv and the West were conspiring “a completely different scenario behind our back” as Russia attempted to resolve the conflict in the Donbas by diplomatic means. Meanwhile, Kyiv supposedly sought nuclear weapons, and NATO expanded its boundaries and military bases around the world and nearer to Russia. “No country in the world has as many military bases as the United States,” says Putin.
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:15:31
“They are the ones who unleashed this war, and we are using force to stop it,” says Putin, describing the supposed plan prepared by Kyiv and the West to launch a “punitive operation” in the Donbas just before Russia intervened.
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:16:39
The West has spent $150 billion on aid to Ukraine but only $60 billion on humanitarian aid to the world’s poorest countries, says Putin.
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:18:05
Western governments demonize the leaders of foreign countries to distract their own domestic publics from corruption at home, says Putin. (He is clearing his throat more than usual during this speech.)
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:19:48
The West began remaking Ukraine into an “anti-Russia” in order to “tear away these historical lands from our country,” says Putin, launching into a denunciation of Ukraine’s supposedly “neo-Nazi” leadership, which the West allegedly ignores, he says. The West is trying to defeat its adversary by using Ukrainian manpower, claims Putin.
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:21:45
“We are not at war with the people of Ukraine. They’ve become hostages of their own regime and its Western masters,” says Putin.
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:23:46
The West seeks Russia’s “strategic defeat,” says Putin. Washington and its allies want to be done with Putin, once and for all. Russia will respond accordingly, Putin warns, describing the West’s supposed “information attacks” against Russia’s youth, culture, religious groups, and so on. (Putin next claims that the West has normalized pedophilia, gay marriage, and so on.)
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:25:13
The crowd is now applauding Putin’s disgust that some Western churches are exploring gender-neutral language to describe God.
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:27:35
Putin warns that the West will be betting on “national traitors,” and these people be held responsible under the law, he says.
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:29:55
Changing tone a bit, Putin is now thanking a laundry list of soldiers and their families, doctors, nurses, and everyone else contributing directly and indirectly to the war effort. (He even singles out “war correspondents” — the group of bloggers who have gained prominence and apparently influence since the February 2022 invasion.)
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:31:56
Putin gets a standing ovation when he mentions the four Ukrainian regions Russia annexed last year. (Russian soldiers still don’t control these regions.) There is then a standing moment of silence for everyone who’s died since the invasion began. (Putin did not specify how many people this is, so far.)
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:36:44
Putin urges the creation of a new state foundation to assist the families of killed soldiers in the “special military operation.” The new organization will have a sweeping mandate: from financial assistance to the education of veterans’ children and distribution of rehabilitation services.
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:39:33
Putin proposes a two-week leave period for soldiers in the war to relieve their “colossal stress” in combat.
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:42:19
Putin is now describing Russia’s efforts to mobilize its military-industrial complex and economic potential for the war effort. He urges a program for partially subsidized preferential housing for workers in the defense industry. The West is also challenging Russia “on the economic front,” he says.
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:44:55
The West (“such humanitarians”) “want the Russians to suffer,” says Putin, describing the many sanctions unleashed against Russia in the past year. “But the Russian economy turned out to be stronger than they thought.” He then adds that the federal government has released 1 trillion rubles ($13.3 billion) to businesses across the country.
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:45:20
The two-week leave Putin proposes giving to Russian soldiers would repeat “every six months” — perhaps a hint at how long he expects the war to go on.
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:47:07
Putin says that Russia must not repeat the mistakes of the past, referring apparently to the USSR’s excessive investments in defense at the expense of civilian goods and services (“guns over butter”).
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:52:25
The websites of several Russian TV networks have reportedly been hit by DDoS attacks since Putin started speaking.
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:52:43
“We have entered a new cycle of economic growth,” says Putin, adding that Russia’s “strategic task is to bring our economy to new frontiers.” He is now describing infrastructure projects and various expansions of factories across Russia and explaining the new foreign markets where their products will be sold.
21 февраля 2023 г. 11:59:24
If Russian companies by Russian I.T. solutions, they will be able to claim tax deductions, says Putin.
21 февраля 2023 г. 12:00:15
Thanks to a strong balance of payments, Russia doesn’t need to borrow money from abroad, says Putin. The domestic banking system hasn’t faltered. Russia’s inflation rate is approaching a target level of 4 percent, while it’s now between 17 and 20 percent in some EU countries, says Putin.
21 февраля 2023 г. 12:08:18
Putin faults post-Soviet Russia with trying to “copy” Western capitalism, which only transformed the country into a source of raw materials. As a result, more advanced industries developed slowly, says Putin. Russian businesspeople’s investments in Western technology were “simply stolen” after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. But ordinary Russians don’t mourn the super-rich who lost their yachts abroad.
21 февраля 2023 г. 12:11:46
Putin is calling on Russia’s investor class to keep their wealth inside Russia. (He’s said this repeatedly over the years.)
21 февраля 2023 г. 12:15:57
Putin urges Russians to “preserve and pass on” the civilization they’ve inherited from their ancestors. He then praises Russian society’s fortitude during the Coronavirus pandemic.
21 февраля 2023 г. 12:17:01
Voting will go ahead in 2023 and 2024
Putin commits to regional and municipal elections scheduled for 2023. All laws and rules will be observed in these elections, he insists. Putin makes the same commitment to Russia’s next presidential election in 2024.
21 февраля 2023 г. 12:17:21
“Russia’s right is the right to be strong,” says Putin, quoting Tsarist official Pyotr Stolypin. (The phrase gets another standing ovation.)
21 февраля 2023 г. 12:23:16
So far in the speech, Putin has not indicated any change of course in Ukraine, neither in terms of tactics nor strategy.
21 февраля 2023 г. 12:26:39
Putin says the Russian authorities will “support all forms of creativity,” adding that “culture shouldn’t destroy society but should bring out the best human qualities.” Cultural development will be a priority in Russia’s “new regions,” he says.
21 февраля 2023 г. 12:28:53
Putin urges a return to six-year terms of study in Russian universities. (He’s talking about abandoning the Bologna Process that ensures comparability in the standards and quality of higher-education qualifications across Europe.) Next, he vows to raise the country’s minimum wage in January 2024 to 19,240 rubles ($260) per month.
21 февраля 2023 г. 12:33:40
Putin proposes retroactively paying multiple-child family subsidies to families with children born since 2007 in Russia’s “new regions.”
21 февраля 2023 г. 12:36:25
In 2023, Russia will open 400 new schools, says Putin.
21 февраля 2023 г. 12:40:53
Putin suspends Russia’s cooperation with the New START Treaty (but it’s not a full withdrawal)
Addressing the issue of halted inspections under the New START Treaty, Putin says it’s nonsense to allow in U.S. inspectors while Washington is assisting Ukraine in attacks on Russian aviation. Putin says he ordered Russia’s new strategic ground-based complexes to be moved to combat readiness, a week ago.
The conditions that led to the signing of the New START Treaty and other arms control agreements no longer exist, says Putin, stressing the Moscow isn’t officially withdrawing from the agreement. If the U.S. conducts any nuclear tests, Russia will follow suit, warns the president.
21 февраля 2023 г. 12:48:56
Putin appears to be beginning his conclusion now, almost two hours into the speech.
21 февраля 2023 г. 12:51:32
Vowing that Russia will meet any challenge and declaring that “the truth is with us,” Putin concludes his speech. Russia’s national anthem is now playing. Some members of the audience are singing along.
21 февраля 2023 г. 12:53:08
Thanks for tuning in, everyone! This concludes Meduza’s live coverage of Vladimir Putin’s 2023 Federal Assembly address.