In his New Year's speech, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin focused on specifying ideological priorities. This was reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and noted that the Kremlin's idea of the "Russian world" will affect the behavior of the occupiers, in particular the TOT, UNN reports.
ISW assessed that Putin is trying to restore the concept of the Russian world as the backbone of Russia's domestic and foreign policy, and the 2023 New Year's speech identified Russian families and Russian multinationalism as the pillars of this concretized Russian world. The Kremlin's idea of the "Russian world" will undoubtedly influence Russian administrative, bureaucratic and socio-cultural priorities in occupied Ukraine, as well as military objectives on the battlefield next year .
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In his New Year's address, President Putin omitted any mention of the war in Ukraine, unlike his address in 2022. Back then, the dictator addressed Russians surrounded by uniformed soldiers and spoke openly about Russia's goals in Ukraine.
In the same year, Putin stood alone in front of the Kremlin and spoke about national unity. He also declared that 2024 would be the "Year of the Family," emphasizing that the Russian family is the backbone of the "multinational people of Russia" and that Russia is "one big country, one big family."
ISW notes that this indicates a focus on domestic politics, preservation of traditional Russian family values, and defense of Russian multinationalism, which fits into Putin's broader ideology of the "Russian world" that includes groups inside and outside Russia.
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