Ukraine war: New year in Putin’s Russia - nothing is normal

The timepiece successful the Kremlin's Spassky Tower strikes midnight.

The Russian nationalist anthem plays.

Then Channel One TV kicks disconnected 2023 with a popular song: "I'm Russian and I volition spell each the way…I'm Russian, to spite the world."

Next connected Top of the (patriotic) Pops: "I was calved successful the Soviet Union, I was made successful the USSR!"

I alteration channels. At the Russia-1 New Year party, 1 of the station's astir celebrated warfare correspondents is holding a champagne glass, toasting 2023 and wishing for "more bully quality than atrocious from the beforehand line".

Sitting with him are men successful subject fatigues. A Moscow-installed authoritative from Russian-occupied Ukraine declares: "I privation america each peace. But bid volition lone travel aft our victory."

You get the gist. This year's festive extravaganzas connected Russian TV are a unusual substance of let's enactment and let's triumph connected the battlefield.

This is not mean TV fayre for a New Year's nighttime successful Russia. Then again, this is not a mean New Year's night. "Normal" disappeared 10 months agone erstwhile Russia launched a full-scale penetration of Ukraine.

There was thing "normal" astir Vladimir Putin's New Year code to the Russian people. For his yearly code the president usually stands unsocial extracurricular the Kremlin. This year, lasting down him, were men and women successful combat uniforms.

In his code past year, the Kremlin person pointed retired that "New Year's Eve is virtually filled with bully cheer and blessed thoughts".

Good cheer and blessed thoughts were successful abbreviated proviso this clip round.

President Putin utilized the code to beforehand the Kremlin's alternate reality: that successful this struggle Russia's the leader and Ukraine and the West are the villains.

"For years, Western elites hypocritically assured america of their peaceful intentions…but successful fact, they encouraged the neo-Nazis successful each imaginable way," President Putin said.

"Defending our Motherland is the ineffable work we beryllium to our ancestors and descendants."

When the Kremlin talks astir "defending our Motherland", support successful caput that it was Russia that invaded Ukraine. Not the different mode around.

The Russian President claims his state is benefiting enormously from the melodramatic events of 2022: "It was a twelvemonth of… important steps towards Russia's afloat sovereignty."

"We laic the instauration for our communal future, our existent independence."

The assertion that, successful this war, Russia is warring for its sovereignty and independency is puzzling, to accidental the least.

For a commencement Russia has agelong been a sovereign, autarkic nation. Even if you judge Vladimir Putin's premise that Russia ne'er achieved "full sovereignty" the question arises: wherefore not? Mr Putin's been successful powerfulness for twenty-three years. Long enough, you whitethorn think, to benignant that.

The different happening President Putin does successful his caller twelvemonth code is to disagreement Russians into america and them, into those who enactment his "special subject operation" and those who don't.

"It was a twelvemonth that enactment galore things successful their place," the Kremlin person said, "and drew a wide enactment betwixt courageousness and heroism, connected the 1 hand, and betrayal and cowardice connected the other…"

In 2023 we're apt to spot the Kremlin drafting this enactment ever much clearly. The Russian authorities person mobilised each the country's resources for the "special subject operation".

There is nary country for statement oregon discussion: the authorities expects the nationalist to rally circular and to enactment the president. Those Russians who don't volition beryllium made to consciousness they're betraying their Motherland.