Putin Says Fighting For 'Survival Of Russian Statehood' – Mocks West's Expectation Of 'Collapse'

President Vladimir Putin, defending his invasion of Ukraine on Tuesday, said Russia was fighting for its existence as a state.

What Happened: Speaking to workers at an aviation factory in Buryatia, Putin stressed that the West is bent on pulling Russia apart and his invasion of Ukraine is Russia's fight for survival. 

“So for us, this is not a geopolitical task, but a task of the survival of Russian statehood, creating conditions for the future development of the country and our children,” he said.

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Putin has often criticized the West for using Kyiv as a means to launch an attack on Moscow and achieve a “strategic defeat” against it. The U.S. and its European allies have argued that their assistance to Kyiv is aimed at helping it defend against an imperial-style invasion, which has caused the devastation of Ukraine, led to the killing of thousands of civilians and forced millions to flee their homes.

The Russian leader added that he was worried about the economy when the West collectively imposed unprecedented sanctions against Moscow last year, but Russia became stronger. “We have increased our economic sovereignty many times over. After all, what did our enemy count on? That we would collapse in 2-3 weeks or in a month,” he said.

Putin said the West was expecting that factories in Russia would grind to a halt, the financial system would collapse, unemployment would rise, protesters would take to the streets, and Moscow would “sway from within and collapse” after the sanctions. 

“This did not happen,” he said, adding, “It turned out, for many of us, and even more so for Western countries, that the fundamental foundations of Russia’s stability are much stronger than anyone thought.”

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