Putin Says Ukraine’s Fate In Moscow’s Hands, Calls Belgorod Shelling ‘Barbaric’

Shortly after President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded on Tuesday with Western leaders in Switzerland to send  more weapons and financing to Ukraine to gain the advantage in the counteroffensive, Russian President Vladimir Putin took to the air waves to claim that the fate of war is “in the hands” of Moscow’s troops, and that Kyiv has failed.

“Not only has their counteroffensive failed, but the initiative is entirely in the hands of the Russian armed forces,” Putin said Tuesday in televised remarks, AFP reported. “If this continues, Ukraine’s statehood could be dealt an irreparable, very serious blow.”

Putin, who has warrants out for his arrest by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, went on to claim that Kyiv has acted in “barbaric” ways by shelling the Russian border city of Belgorod, killing 20 people in December.

“They are trying to show that they can also do something. But instead of solving military tasks, they act in such a barbaric way. Attacks are being carried out on peaceful settlements with indiscriminate weapons,” Putin said on Tuesday.

The United Nations calculated in November that at least 10,000 Ukrainian civilians, including more than 560 children, have been killed and more than 18,500 Ukrainian civilians have been injured since the beginning of Putin’s invasion.

Welcomed to the World Economic Forum’s annual summit in Davos on Tuesday with a standing ovation and introduced as a “historical figure,” Zelensky expressed confidence that the United States will come through “in a matter of weeks” with its proposed $60 billion aid package, and called on the Western business leaders and government envoys to follow through on economic promises to Kyiv.

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“Ladies and gentlemen, this year must be, must be, decisive,” Zelensky said.