From: The Hill By Alexander J. Motyl, opinion contributor
Vladimir Putin’s recent end-of-the-year press conference was mostly a self-congratulatory snooze, but there were several moments that revealed the depths of depravity and unreality to which the Russian dictator has sunk.
For starters, Putin’s minions unfurled the banner of the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet during the press conference. Putin thanked them and then said, “this banner represents all the combat banners of our soldiers, who are fighting for Russia, for the Motherland, along the entire line of contact.”
What Putin failed to say was that the 155th Marine Brigade was responsible for committing war crimes and massacring hundreds of Ukrainian civilians in three cities north of Kyiv — Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel — in the early days of the invasion
Needless to say, Putin was endorsing the unit’s — and by extension the entire Russian army’s — genocidal actions. He was also signaling to the West that he would continue employing genocide as a legitimate means of waging war — whether in Ukraine, Finland, the Baltic states or Poland. Finally, Putin was declaring that he was completely nonplussed by being an accused war criminal, challenging Russians with a conscience to dare speak out against his having implicated all of Russia in his crimes.
Voice of Ukraine 