Putin wishes Russians victory in Ukraine in New Year’s address

President Vladimir Putin said Russia believed it would win in Ukraine in a speech on Wednesday as his country celebrated another New Year – its main holiday – at war.

The nearly four-year offensive in Ukraine has taken a huge human toll, with military deaths on both sides believed to be in the tens, or even hundreds, of thousands.

Putin devoted much of his brief speech to “fighters and commanders” in Ukraine. He did not mention an alleged Ukrainian drone strike on one of his residences, which Kiev has denied, calling the claim an attempt to derail a US-led peace process.

During the diplomatic rush to end Europe’s worst conflict since World War II in recent weeks, Putin has firmly told Russians that the military intends to take the rest of the Ukrainian land it has declared Russian by force if talks fail.

Addressing the soldiers, whom he called “heroes,” Putin said: “We believe in you and our victory.”

Putin’s traditional speech was broadcast for the first time in the eastern Kamchatka Peninsula – the first Russian region to enter 2026.

December 31 marks 26 years since Putin came to power.

Russia — which now occupies about a fifth of Ukraine — has pounded its smaller neighbor with an almost daily barrage of missiles and drones that have killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians and displaced millions.

Moscow has been steadily hitting Ukraine’s energy and other civilian infrastructure – forcing blackouts for days in freezing temperatures.

In Vyshgorod, a town outside Kiev, residents who were without power for several days due to Russian shelling told AFP the raids had made their lives “hell”.

Russia doubles down on Putin’s residency claim

US-led diplomacy to end the war has gathered pace in recent weeks, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expected to attend a January 6 summit in France with allies after talks with US President Donald Trump in Florida.

But Russia has shown no sign of abandoning its maximalist demands in Ukraine.

The European Union accused Moscow on Wednesday of trying to “derail” negotiations with its claim this week that Kiev tried to attack Putin’s residence in northwestern Russia.

Moscow made the accusation shortly after Zelensky’s talks with Trump, and Kiev has already called it a “fabrication” aimed at “manipulating” the peace process.

The Kremlin accused Ukraine of launching dozens of drones at Putin’s lakeside residence in the Novgorod region — between Moscow and St. Petersburg — on the evening of December 28.

Moscow released video on Wednesday from a drone it said Kiev had sent toward the residence.