The reality, it now transpires, is considerably less elaborate and infinitely more chilling. Many times he has spoken of how the 1991 breakup left “tens of millions of our compatriots living beyond the borders of the Russian Federation”.
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It’s because he regards the disintegration of the Soviet Empire as the demise of “historical Russia”. This nostalgia is not rooted in fondness for the ideology of Marxist Leninism. His obsession with his neighbour reflects his burning resentment over the collapse of the Soviet Union and his lingering bitterness at post-Soviet Russia’s dramatic loss of international status. Peter the Great gave his name to the new capital, St Petersburg (Putin’s hometown), on land he conquered and stole from Sweden, just as Putin is attempting to steal land from Ukraine using the absurd pretence of “liberating” the very people he is killing and whose property he is destroying. As usual, Putin is very selective in his choice of facts. Putin, now in his 23rd year in power, has repeatedly sought to justify Russia’s actions in Ukraine, where his forces have devastated cities, killed thousands and put millions of people to flight, by promoting the view of history that asserts Ukraine has no real national identity or tradition of statehood.
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No wonder he keeps a statue of Peter so prominently displayed in his ornate meeting room in the Kremlin. Putin concludes that he deserves to be remembered as Vladimir the Great. That’s how it was.” For “Sweden” read “Ukraine”, and you get the message. Peter was not taking anything away from Sweden, he was returning land that rightfully belonged to Russia. “Peter the Great waged the Great Northern War for 21 years”, he said, “but while some saw that war as taking land away from Sweden, they were wrong.
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During a meeting with young entrepreneurs in Moscow on the 350th anniversary of the birth of Peter the Great last week, Putin compared the fate of modern Russia to the empire of Peter the Great. President Vladimir Putin thinks he is the true successor to Peter the Great. Unlike Peter the Great, who had a record of success, there is growing evidence that Vladimir will fail in his pursuit of conquering Ukraine and incorporating it into a new Russian empire.