Putin and Biden in Ukraine war of words

Russian leader has 'lost touch with reality' as he faces 200,000 casualties

- Nicholas Cecil

VLADIMIR PUTIN and Joe Biden today went head-to-head in keynote speeches on Ukraine just days before the first anniversary of the war.

In his state of the nation address in Moscow, the Russian president railed against the West, claiming: “It’s they who have started the war. And we are using force to end it.”

As the death toll grows, he also alleged: “The responsibility for the growing number of victims lies totally with the West and with Kyiv regime.”

But a senior aide to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin’s speech showed he had lost touch with reality. The Russian president ordered a lightning strike to seize Kyiv last February but the operation failed in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance and poor Russian military tactics and supplies.

With the first anniversary of the war on Friday, Putin sought to rally support for it, arguing that the West had sought to turn a local conflict into a strategic one which threatened the existence of Russia. He said: “There are historic changes that will determine the future of our country and our people.”

Britain estimates his war has left up to 200,000 Russian casualties and as many as 60,000 killed. Ukrainian troops have also been hit by high casualties, with more than 40,000 civilians reported to have been killed, often in indiscriminate Russian artillery shelling and air strikes.