Speaking on the 25th anniversary of his rule, President Vladimir V. Putin delivered an upbeat and vague New Year’s Eve message that did not address casualties in Ukraine or rising inflation at home.
Reporting from Berlin
A quarter century after assuming power, President Vladimir V. Putin told Russians in his New Year’s Eve address on Tuesday that their country was overcoming every challenge and moving forward.
But he did not say where Russia was going, even as it takes huge casualties in its war in Ukraine, struggles with rising inflation and absorbs diplomatic blows abroad.
Much of his short speech was characterized by omissions. While Mr. Putin on Tuesday honored the country’s “fighters and commanders,” he invoked Russians’ pride in defeating Nazism and declared 2025 “the year of the Defender of the Motherland,” he did not say who the country was fighting or why.
It was a conspicuous omission nearly three years after he decided to invade neighboring Ukraine. The war has claimed the lives of an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 Russian soldiers, reshaped Russia’s economy and upended its place in the world.
Nor did Mr. Putin address inflation, the main concern of most ordinary Russians, or a host of other economic challenges. And while the speech was notable for marking 25 years since he took power in 1999 — an era in which he cemented his rule over Russia — it contained no hint of Mr. Putin’s vision for the country beyond the broadest platitudes.
“We are certain that everything will be fine,” he said.
Mr. Putin’s vague address on the eve of Russia’s main public holiday underlined the biggest contradiction of his wartime leadership: a drive to mobilize society and steel it for a prolonged conflict, while maintaining a sense of normalcy in everyday life.
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