Putin says Sweden was also Russian territory
“Now it is our destiny to return and strengthen our lands,” Putin said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with young entrepreneurs on June 9 that Russian Emperor Peter I did not take land from Sweden in the Northern Wars of 1700-1722.
According to him, Peter I “returned” and “strengthened” the Russian lands.
“Now it is our destiny to return and strengthen our lands,” Putin said.
Putin stated that along with the Finno-Ugric peoples, the Slavs had lived in the lands occupied by Peter I for centuries.
He added that these lands have always been under the control of the Russian state.
For example, Putin spoke about the city of St. Petersburg, founded in 1703 by Peter I.
He said that at first European countries did not recognize these territories as Russian territory.
New annexation plan in Ukraine
The day before, on June 8, Moscow-appointed leaders of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions occupied by Russian troops in Ukraine said they were preparing for a referendum on the annexation of these territories to Russia.
The remarks came after a visit by Putin’s first deputy chief of staff, Sergei Kiriyenko, to the occupied territories.
After Russia’s unwarranted and unjustified intervention in Ukraine, a large part of the Kherson region, including the city of Kherson, is now under Russian occupation.
Although a significant part of the Zaporozhye region is under occupation, the city of Zaporozhye itself is controlled by the Ukrainian armed forces.
At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said that the purpose of the “special operation” was not to annex the lands to Russia.
Baltic conversation
Today, Russia celebrates the 350th anniversary of Peter I.
In Russian historiography, he is portrayed as an emperor who strengthened the state with brutal methods and carried out Western reforms.
One of Peter I’s achievements was the annexation of some Swedish-controlled Baltic territories to Russia under the 1721 Nishtadt Peace Treaty.
But the truth is that the territories of modern Estonia and, in part, Latvia have never been part of any Russian principality.
Putin did not say which territories he intended to return to.
Putin did not say which territories he intended to return to.
Putin’s bust and Cossacks in Leningrad region (Archive photo)