From: Transform Ukraine By Douglas Landro / May 23, 2025
As Putin Proclaims Buffer Zones and Rejects Peace, 485 Ukrainian Drones Strike Deep Into Russia While European Leaders Seek Vatican Summit for Elusive Ceasefire
Summary of the Day – May 22, 2025
In a day that crystallized the deepening chasm between rhetoric and reality, Vladimir Putin unveiled an emerging state ideology rooted in militant Russian nationalism while Ukrainian drones forced Moscow’s airports to shut down for the third consecutive night. As the Kremlin leader proclaimed the need for “buffer zones” along Ukraine’s border and formally rejected any ceasefire, U.S. President Donald Trump privately acknowledged to European leaders what they had long known: Putin believes he is winning and has no intention of ending the war. Meanwhile, Ukraine brought home nine more children from occupied territories, each carrying stories of basement imprisonments and years of terror, while the EU prepared its 18th sanctions package and Ukraine’s defense manufacturers pleaded for export permits to save their industry from collapse.
The Nationalist Crusade: Putin Enshrines Opposition to the West in Emerging State Ideology
At a carefully choreographed award ceremony on May 22, Vladimir Putin laid bare the ideological foundations of a new Russian nationalism that positions eternal conflict with the West as a civilizational imperative. “Strong family foundations” and “traditional values” support Russia’s “1,000-year-old statehood,” Putin declared, emphasizing that Russia’s “most important” task is to preserve its people, culture, and spirituality.
The ceremony’s guest list revealed the doctrine’s contours: A Russian Orthodox priest—but no representatives of Islam, Judaism, or Buddhism, despite their official status as Russia’s “traditional” religions—thanked Putin for protecting Russian culture and noted that celebrations of World War II victory teach youth in the “Russkiy Mir” to defend Russia. State Historical Museum Director Alexei Levikin claimed hostile countries base their policies on “falsification of historical events,” while a martial arts school director asserted that Russia “always proves that its fighters are the best on the battlefields.”
Voice of Ukraine 