2024-03-22 11:00:43
Russia is “in a state of war” against Ukraine, the Kremlin spokesperson acknowledged in an interview published Friday, after having long insisted on presenting the assault against its neighbor, launched two years ago, as a “special operation” and rejected the use of the word “war”.
“We find ourselves in a state of war. Yes, it started as a special military operation, but as soon as this whole gang was formed, when the collective West participated in all this on the side of Ukraine, for us it became a war,” said Dmitri Peskov in an interview with the media “Argoumenty I Fakty”.
“I am convinced of it and everyone must understand it in order to mobilize personally,” he added, in reference to the military mobilization and that of the minds carried out in Russia.
In this interview, he also recalled the Kremlin’s objective of completely conquering the four Ukrainian regions (Kherson, Donetsk, Lugansk and Zaporizhia) which Moscow has claimed annexation since September 2022.
“De jure, it is a special military operation, but de facto, it has turned into war,” Dmitri Peskov then clarified on Friday during his daily press conference.
For two years the Kremlin has repressed the use of the word “war” with fines and prison sentences, imposing the official euphemism “special military operation”.
Several senior officials, during the two years of conflict, have already used the word “war” in public statements, but always in reference to the war that the West would wage against Russia via Ukraine and not with regard to the Russian assault itself.
Asked by the press about the fate of those who were condemned for using the word, Mr. Peskov suggested that one should not expect that the use of the term in a context critical of the Russia be allowed.
“The word ‘war’ is used in different contexts. Compare my context with the context of the cases (of convicted persons) that you cite,” he said.
On Telegram, Russian analyst Tatiana Stanovaïa nevertheless estimated on Friday that the official use of the term by the Kremlin illustrated the crossing of a “psychological border” for the political elite and the population.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, recently re-elected with a score of 87% in an unopposed presidential election, has vowed to lead his country to victory against kyiv and the West, in a confrontation he presents as existential.
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