Thread by @scharap

Putin's address starting. Thread.

"Ukraine is an inseparable part of our cultural space"

Uh oh, he's going deep into history.

"today's ukraine was totally and completely formed by Russia"

[historical narrative about how the Soviets were "guilty" for the creation of today's Ukraine.]

1924 Soviet constitution... blah blah blah

"why were all these authorities delegated to national republics?"

"why did we have to give these republics so much authority"? because the bolsheviks needed to hang on to power "at any price"

Leninist pseudo-federalist construction of the USSR was "worse than a mistake".

"we can call it Lenin's Ukraine"

"you want decommunization, we're all for it" [but we'll show you what it really means]

he is noting that actually the republics weren't given any real authority in the USSR...

called the USSR "totalitarian", by the way

the leaders of the CPSU thought they had it all figured out, but nationalism hadn't disappeared... it was just waiting for its moment.

[blaming CPSU groups for re-igniting nationalism in the late 1980s]

[critique of USSR national policy document from 1989 that nominally gave the republics more authority, including "citizenship"]

"two years before the Soviet collapse, its fate was sealed... the collapse was a function of CPSU leaderships' mistakes" "the collapse of the USSR is on their conscience"

But Russia recognized the new borders after 1991...

[Russia respected UA territorial integrity, gave tens of USD billions in energy subsidies]

[Russia took on all USSR debts... the new independent states were supposed to give up their claims on Soviet property abroad... Ukraine never ratified the agreement...]

"Ukraine was constructed as an anti-Russia... "

condemnation of Ukraine's entire post-Soviet political existence... oligarchs running the country, geopolitical triangulation, etc.

he's condemning Ukrainian pro-Russian politicians for betraying their voters

elections are merely a means of redistributing power among clans

we're up to 2014 now, with allegations of Western funding of radicals leading to... you guessed it: a "coup"

allegations of a wave of "pogroms" following maidan....

"we know the names of those guilty for the Odessa trade union house fire and we'll track them down"

This is really going on forever. he's describing an alleged post-maidan nationwide economic and social collapse.... down to details like Yuzhmash's fate.

... allegations that the US Embassy in Kyiv created and financed NABU, SAP, etc. "reduced ukraine to a colony with a marionette regime"

And now we have the usual denunciation of Ukraine's laws on language and education...

[now expressing disbelief that the RNBO unilaterally shut down TV stations] pot paging kettle.

soliloquy about the orthodox church schism...

[allegations of Ukrainian meddling in Crimea] [ha!]

and now rolling out the new talking point about Ukraine's potential nuclear capabilities...

allegations that Ukrainian armed forces are integrated into NATO, that they can be commanded by NATO units

this is a really long announcement of an invasion/recognition. cut to the chase already.

taking a break from live tweeting. this is getting exhausting.

tuned back in to hear him recall his question to Clinton in 2000 about the potential of Russian membership in NATO.

"why did you decide to make us an enemy"?

"because they don't need a strong Russia"

Now we're on to missile defense in RO/PO and his concerns about MK-41 and SM-6s... and therefore, invading ukraine makes sense?

official US strategic documents apparently contemplate counterforce strikes. news to me. "Ukraine will be a platsdarm for such strikes"

and now the missile-flight-time-from-Ukraine refrain.

"knife pointed at our neck" re missile deployments in Ukraine.

now we're on to the European security treaty proposal from 2009-2010... this is like a greatest hits of Putin's grievances.

called the US/NATO response to Russian December 2021 proposals an attempt to put the key questions to the side

reiterating the new 3 "first-order" issues. 1) nonenlargement; 2) non deployment of missiles and 3) 1997 thing

"their goal is the containment of Russia's development"

[they haven't answered our core concerns. Russia has the full right to respond]

and... "genocide" in the Donbas again.

"how long must this tragedy continue? how long must we tolerate it?" (re "genocide")

"the regime" in Kyiv allegedly hasn't changed at all since 2014.. it wants a military solution

and here it is: Immediate recognition of DNR and LNR, and immediate "friendship and cooperation" treaties

to "those who have usurped power" in Kyiv, "we demand immediate ceasefire" ... or else

AND now he's signing the recognition and friendship treaty documents with both DNR and LNR and their "leadership"... wow, that was fast.