Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that his nation would never give in to what he termed the West's attempts to use Ukraine as a weapon to harm Russia.

Mr. Putin stated in a New Year's video address that Russia was fighting in Ukraine to safeguard its "motherland" and to secure "true independence" for its people.

In a nine-minute lecture — the most extended New Year's address of his two-decade rule — Mr. Putin accused the West of deceiving Russia and inciting Moscow to begin a "special military operation" in Ukraine.

In a speech taped in front of Russian service personnel at the headquarters of the country's southern military sector, he added, "For years, Western elites hypocritically assured us of their peaceful intentions."

In a New Year's speech, Mr. Putin stated, "In fact, they encouraged neo-Nazis who engaged in open terrorism against civilians in the Donbas in every way possible."

Earlier, in a video message for the new year, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu described a Russian triumph over Ukraine as "inevitable" and praised the courage of Russian soldiers.

Moscow's defense commander, fiercely criticized by pro-war forces in Russia for battlefield failings throughout the ten-month campaign, stated that the situation on the front lines remained "difficult" and criticized Ukraine and the West for attempting to limit Russia.

Mr. Shoigu stated, "We enter the New Year in a difficult military-political environment." "At a time when some attempt to erase our glorious history and great achievements, demolish monuments to the victors over fascism, erect statues of war criminals, and cancel and desecrate everything Russian."

As the terrible battle continued along the 1,000-kilometer front line and Russia had made no territorial gains since the war's earliest months, Mr. Shoigu told Russian forces, "Victory is as inevitable as the New Year."

Mr. Shoigu also lauded the "immortal actions, selfless courage, and heroism" of Russian forces fighting what he called "neo-Nazism and terrorism."

Kyiv and the West have rejected Russia's claim that it is battling "Nazis" in Ukraine as a pretext for Mr. Putin's attempt to take land and overthrow Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an unprovoked war of aggression.

Moscow had anticipated a quick win in a "special military operation." Still, Ukraine's fierce resistance and billions of dollars in western arms supplies have enabled Kyiv to change the tide of the war and launch a series of dramatic counteroffensives.

More than half of the land gained by Russia during the initial weeks of its invasion has been returned by Ukraine.