Thread by @maxseddon

Putin begins his speech. He starts talking about the "votes" to join Russia in Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine.

"The people have made their choice [...] this is the will of millions."

Thus follows what was called "thunderous applause" in the USSR.

Putin says southeastern Ukraine is actually part of Russia because the Russian state's predecessors ruled it, it was part of the Russian empire, and because the USSR fought to free it from the Nazis in World War II.

Putin holds a moment of silence for the separatist commanders and Russian soldiers killed over the years fighting Ukraine in the Donbas.

Putin starts a historical rant about the collapse of the USSR in 1991. He says this was a "catastrophe" because the Soviet leaders "destroyed our great country and just left the people to deal with it."

Putin says people in southeastern Ukraine now are going to live in "their true historical fatherland."

"I want the Kyiv government and their real bosses in the west to hear me ... Residents of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson are becoming our citizens forever."

Putin calls on Ukraine to stop fighting and negotiate an end to the war with Russia. But these territories are off limits.

"We will defend our lands with all the means at our disposal and do everything to protect our people. This is our great liberating mission."

"The west is looking for new ways to strike against our country, to weaken and destroy Russia [...] they just can't put up with there being such a big country with its territory, rich natural resources, and people who won't live on anyone else's rules."

Putin says the west wants to make Russia a "colony," "rob" it, and turn its people into a "crowd of voiceless slaves."

"They don't need Russia, but we do." Applause.

"Russia will always be Russia. We will always defend ourselves and our motherland."

Putin on the "rules-based order" in the west. "Has anyone seen these rules? Who agreed to them?"

He says the western elite is "colonial" are "racist" because they are "spreading Russophobia all over the world."

Even by Putin's standards, this is really a blistering broadside against the west.

He's drawing a line between the "colonial" western elite and everyone else, going on about the Opium Wars and the Indian mutiny. The message: Russia wants to lead a global resistance to the west.

"The west has said for centuries it is bringing freedom and democracy to the world. Everything is exactly the opposite," Putin says.

He goes on about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Allied bombings of German cities, the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

In case you had any doubt what this is really about, Putin hasn't even mentioned Ukraine for about 15 minutes now. This is effectively an official declaration of hostilities against the west.

Putin says the "Anglo-Saxons" are behind the sabotage on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines this week. Then he pivots to ranting about Nato and other US-led alliances like AUKUS.

He says US military doctrine is "total domination" of the whole world.

"We hear about the 'containment' of Russia, China, and Iran. Other countries are next – from the Middle East and Latin America."

He says the "sanctions blitzkrieg" against Russia failed to topple it and non-western countries agree with him that US hegemony has gone too far.

"You can't feed people with paper dollars and euros. You can't heat people's homes with the lies you spread on social media," Putin says. "You can't warm people with puffed-up valuations – you need energy sources."

I've watched a lot of Putin speeches over the last 10-15 years and this is the most anti-US one by a really long way.

If I were a western policymaker wondering if he'd really use nuclear weapons – and he hasn't even got to them yet – I'd be very concerned.

The only people who are ready to live according to US rules are "political masochists and other followers of non-traditional political relations," a homophobic joke.

Putin rants about sex change operations. "This is unacceptable. We have our own future.

"Outright Satanism" in the west (though Putin disappointingly did not expand on this)

Putin says Russia wants to lead an "anti-colonial movement" to liberate the world. "We need to turn this disgraceful page. Western hegemony will be smashed. This is inevitable. We must do this for our people, the great historical Russia."

Putin bingo: Ivan Ilyin! "If I'm Russian, it means I love in Russian"

"Truth is on our side. Russia is with us!" A standing ovation.

That was a truly stunning speech – one clearly aimed at sending fear into the hearts of US, UK, and European leaders.

Here comes the actual annexation part

After the national anthem plays, Putin and the four "leaders" of the occupied Ukrainian territories chant "Russia! Russia!"

Putin still hasn't clarified how much territory Russia is actually claiming.

Russia's already being pushed back in Donetsk and Luhansk, which Putin has vowed to "liberate" in full. It doesn't control all of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia either but hasn't said what to do with them

One thing Putin didn't explicitly mention in the speech: Russia's nuclear weapons.

He said Russia would use "all the means at our disposal" to defend its annexed territories – but never directly talked about his own willingness to strike Ukraine or the west.

Putin's key line on nukes: "The US is the only country in history that has ever used nuclear weapons. Creating a precedent, by the way."

Typical Putin: using nuclear weapons is bad, but since the US did it, he would also be justified in doing so to force Ukraine's surrender.

Alexander Dugin: "This is a fundamental declaration of war against the modern west and modern world in general. This is a manifesto of Tradition. I can't imagine how profound the consequences are. It was an eschatological, religious speech."

t.me/Agdchan/7605