Putin Says Conquering Ukraine Is Key to Russia’s Survival

Russian President Vladimir Putin told workers at an aviation factory in Siberia on March 14 that the war in Ukraine is a matter of survival for Russia. During his tour of the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant, Putin lamented the fall of the Soviet Union and blamed the cause of the Ukraine conflict on geopolitical issues caused by the United States.

[F]or us, this is not a geopolitical goal, but a matter of survival of Russian statehood and the creation of proper conditions for further development of our country and our children.
—Vladimir Putin

According to the Kremlin’s official website, Putin was responding to a question posed by a factory design engineer, who asked: “[H]ow can we, ordinary citizens, aircraft plant workers, help our country win and bring peace to every home?”

Putin claimed:

• “[A]ll the problems began after the collapse of the Soviet Union.”
• “[O]ur adversary [the United States has] one goal—and we know this from previous decades—which is to destabilize us and pull our country apart.”
• “In this regard … I would say that in order for us to bring peace and stability closer, we need to consolidate as a society and get our act together.”

These are common themes in Russia’s victimhood-saturated propaganda. In truth, the nation was given every opportunity to integrate into the America-funded postwar global model and to be enriched and stabilized by it the way Japan, South Korea and many other nations have been. Instead, Russians have opted for destruction and violence.

The linchpin: Putin mourns the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since taking power, he has done all he can to bring parts of that fallen empire back under Russian control. After the 2014 Crimean crisis, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote:

Putin applied all that pressure on Ukraine because that nation is the linchpin of his goal of a renewed imperial Russia! A linchpin is the pin in an axle that keeps the wheel from coming off. Mr. Putin was doing everything in his power to keep the wheels from falling off his dream of a new Soviet empire.

Back then, Putin was only able to annex Crimea, but in February 2022, he came back with the intent to invade and gain the entire nation of Ukraine. Putin knows that if he wants to bring back the Soviet empire, he first needs to conquer and control Ukraine.

Learn more: Read “Ukraine: The Breadbasket of Russia” and The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia.’