Originally Posted by
Brad the Impala
BBC's Russia Editor:
Vladimir Putin's speech to the Russian people on Wednesday night was quite extraordinary. Speaking from the Kremlin, we saw a Russian president who is fighting on all fronts.
Fighting in Ukraine, where he claimed his so-called special military operation is going according to plan. And we heard him again trying to justify Russia's military action, to frame it as an act of self-defence.
But he knows he also has a fight on at home. He knows by now that the wave of international sanctions will cause massive economic pain here, and potentially social unrest.
He talked about inflation rising, unemployment rising. So he's looking for scapegoats, for people to blame so the Russian people won't blame him when that economic pain starts to bite acutely.
And the scapegoats have been chosen. He denounced the traitors, the fifth columnists and the "pro-Western scum". In other words, it's us against them, good against evil. Vladimir Putin is trying to create division at home to absolve himself of responsibility for the consequences of his invasion of Ukraine.
Now we have to wait and see what the effect of this speech is on Russian society.