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Putin likens himself to Peter the Great, justifies Russia's invasion of Ukraine

He likened Peter the Great's invasion of Sweden to his invasion of Ukraine

RUSSIA-PUTIN/BUSINESS Russia's President Vladimir Putin | Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin compared himself to the late17th century Russian monarch Peter the Great, using the comparison to justify his decision to invade Ukraine. 

Putin, on Thursday, visited an exhibition dedicated to the first Russian Emperor and likened Peter the Great's invasion of Sweden in the 18th century to his invasion of Ukraine. 

Putin commented that Peter the Great was fighting over territory that righfully belonged to Russia and not conquering. 

He justified the Russian troops destroying Ukrainian cities and killing thousands of innocent men, women and children by saying that Ukraine isn't a legitimate sovereign nation, but in fact Russian territory. 

Currently, in his 23rd year in power, Putin has constantly tried to justify Russia's actions in Ukraine. 

An adviser to the Ukrainian government Mykhailo Podolyak told The Guardian, “Putin’s confession of land seizures and comparing himself with Peter the Great prove: there was no ‘conflict’, only the country’s bloody seizure under contrived pretexts of people’s genocide.” “We should not talk about [Russia] ‘saving face’, but about its immediate de-imperialisation.” 

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