Putin's 2019 State of the Nation address, in a nutshell

Vladimir Putin has delivered yet another annual address to Russia’s Federal Assembly (a speech similar to the U.S. president’s State of the Union Address). You can watch a video of the whole thing here and read a transcript of the speech here. Meduza summarizes the 88-minute spectacle below.

🏗️ “National projects are built around people.” And you can’t fool people. People care what is done right now. Russia has colossal resources to grow and develop, and it owes these resources to its industrious citizenry.

👩‍👩‍👧‍👦 “We have been doing and will continue to do everything possible to strengthen family values.” Russia’s birth rate is falling, thanks to losses in the Second World War and in the 1990s. The country needs to be growing its population again by 2023. Russia must establish the principle of “more children, lower taxes.” The state knows where to find the money for these goals.

🏚️ “Poverty literally crushes people, depriving them of life prospects.” There used to be 40 million people in Russia living below the poverty line. Today, there are only 19 million. A social contract will help lower this number further, where the state allocates money so people can find work or receive training. Additional payments for pensions and other benefits shouldn’t depend on the subsistence minimum.

👨‍⚕️ “People often have to wait days to see a needed specialist.” By late 2020, people in any town should have access to medical care, which isn’t true today. Russians need a new outpatient care standard and they need electronic document management, so people aren’t required to produce doctor’s certificates.

🚮 “Waste problems have been ignored for a century.” The country has too many over-capacity landfills. And why have officials issued permits for the construction of homes near these dumps? “Shady businesses are cashing in on this.”

🚽 “Roughly 200,000 kids are still going to schools where there is no heating, running water, or indoor plumbing.” This problem needs to be solved within two years. Russia needs a school-focused version of “Zemskaya Medicine” (the 19th-century initiative to provide free medical care in rural Russia). The state should pay educators to move to villages and small towns.

🌾 “Nothing pure remains abroad.” Thanks to Russian scientists, the country is completely self-sufficient when it comes to wheat seeds. Russia should create its own national brand of “green” products.

👮 “[Investigators] lock up suspects and then go on vacation.” Russia still hasn’t found a way to relieve the state pressure exerted on the business community. For every one entrepreneur whose business collapses, 130 employees lose their jobs. Why does Russia treat ordinary corporate work like criminal collusion? Why are arrests prolonged unreasonably? State prosecutors and the Investigative Committee should review businesspeople’s complaints without delay. By 2021, Russia should eliminate all outdated regulations and guidelines completely and replace them with new ones.

🚀 “We will quietly tell them what we have in store.” Soon Russia will complete work on the latest “Zircon” hypersonic cruise missile, which can reach the speed of Mach 9, and could be deployed on the same ships currently outfitted with “Kalibr” cruise missiles.

💥 “Russia doesn’t plan to be the first to deploy such missiles in Europe.” The global situation has changed since the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed in 1987, but now the United States is violating everything itself and then looking for excuses. Moscow will respond in kind and asymmetrically: Russia’s weapon systems will be capable of striking not only missile launchers, but also at decision-making centers. Russia will either survive as a sovereign state or it won’t exist at all. “Some countries can [exist as vassals], but Russia cannot.”

🕊️ “Russia isn’t threatening anyone.” Russia is only responding and defending itself. The Americans are fond of pondering their own exceptionalism. “Let them count the range and speed of our advanced weapon systems.” In the end, Russians need peace to attain sustainable development.

Summary by Mikhail Zelensky

Translation by Kevin Rothrock