Vladimir Putin says the West wants to “tear apart” Russia

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin blamed the West for trying to “tear apart” Russia and said in an interview broadcast on national television that his attack on Ukraine was aimed at “uniting the Russian people”.

About 100 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, Russian air defense troops shot down a Ukrainian drone early Monday as it approached a Russian air base, with the debris killing three, news agencies reported.

“As a result of the fall of the drone debris, three Russian military technicians who were at the Engels (military) airfield were fatally injured,” the Defense Ministry said, according to the TASS news agency.

On Monday there will also be a call from Ukraine for Russia to lose its veto-wielding permanent seat on the powerful UN Security Council, Kiev Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

It comes a day after Putin accused his country’s “geopolitical rivals of aiming to break up Russia, historic Russia.”

Putin has used the concept of “historic Russia” to argue that Ukrainians and Russians are a people who undermine Kiev’s sovereignty and justify his 10-month attack on Ukraine.

“Divide and rule, that’s what they’ve always tried to achieve and are still trying to do,” Putin said in an interview.

“But our goal is different: it is to unite the Russian people.”

Putin said his government was acting “in the right direction… protecting our national interests, the interests of our citizens, our people.”

He reiterated that Moscow was ready to negotiate and appeared noncommittal when asked about the new air defense system the United States will deliver to Ukraine.

“Of course we will destroy it, 100 percent!” Putin said, referring to the Patriot missile battery he promised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Kherson “terror”

In televised remarks Sunday night, Foreign Minister Kuleba said Russia had lost its bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council.

“We have a very simple question: Does Russia have the right to remain a permanent member of the UN Security Council and to be in the United Nations at all?” he said.

“We have a convincing and reasoned answer no, it has not,” he continued, adding that the issue has been raised in diplomatic circles at a “lower level.”

The powerful 15-seat Security Council has five permanent members Russia, the United States, Britain, France and China who have a veto power that can block any decision.

Zelensky last week won firm pledges of support from Biden during his first trip from Ukraine since the conflict began, including the Pentagon’s most advanced air defense system.

Western military and financial aid was crucial in pushing Russian troops out of Ukraine, including Kherson, the only regional capital Russia held.

Despite Russia’s retreat from the city, it remains close to Moscow’s guns and under constant threat.

The Ukrainian military counted 71 strikes in the recaptured Kherson region on Saturday, including 41 in the city.

This included deadly bombings in a busy downtown market that left 10 dead and 55 injured.

The head of the Russian-settled Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, told Telegram that the bombing was “a disgusting provocation” by Ukraine used to blame Russia.

In his daily address on Sunday, Zelensky condemned Russian “terrorists” and thanked all his compatriots, including soldiers, doctors and volunteers involved in the defense of Ukraine.

“Thank you… to everyone who came to Kherson to help. To save the wounded from the terrorist attack on Christmas,” Zelensky said.

Challenging Christmas

On Sunday, church bells rang across Kyiv as Orthodox Christians attended Christmas services, in a break with Russian spiritual leaders who will mark the holiday in two weeks.

At a service in central Kiev, loyalist Olga Stanko told AFP that she supported any move to distance Ukraine from Russia.

“The war brought us so much sadness,” he said. “We can’t do that with Russia, stay under its influence.”

The decision by some Ukrainian churches to observe Christmas on December 25 highlights the deepening rift between religious leaders in Kyiv and Moscow.

An Interfax-Ukraine poll showed a growing number in favor of moving the Christian holy day to December 25, jumping from 26 percent in 2021 to 44 percent in 2022, although 31 percent were still against.

Ukraine has been under Moscow’s spiritual leadership since at least the 17th century, but part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church broke with Moscow in 2019 over Russia’s annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in the east.

In May, the Russian-backed branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church also cut ties with Moscow.

From St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, Pope Francis called for an end to the conflict.

“May the Lord…enlighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the thunder of arms and put an immediate end to this senseless war!” said the Argentine pontiff.