Putin likens himself to Peter the Great - suggests that the invasion of Ukraine is justified

Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

プーチン氏、自身をピョートル大帝になぞらえる　ウクライナ侵攻は正当と示唆

2022.06.11 Sat posted at 09:25 JST

 （ＣＮＮ） ロシアのプーチン大統領は９日、１７世紀後半から１８世紀にかけてのロシアの君主ピョートル大帝に自らを重ね合わせ、ウクライナ侵攻を正当化する姿勢を見せた。

プーチン氏はこの日、初代ロシア皇帝のピョートル大帝を扱った展覧会を訪問。ピョートル大帝による１８世紀のスウェーデンとの戦争を現在のウクライナ軍事侵攻になぞらえようと試みた。

プーチン氏は発言の中で、ピョートル大帝は征服を試みたわけではなく、ロシアに正当に帰属する領土を巡って戦っていたとの見方を示した。

そのうえで今日のウクライナ戦争との類似点を指摘し、ウクライナは正統な主権国家ではなく、実際はロシア領なのだから最近の軍事行動は正当化されると示唆した。

プーチン氏は「なぜピョートル大帝はあそこに行ったのか」と問いかけ、「彼は（領土を）奪い返し強固にした。我々の運命も『奪い返し強固にする』することにあるようだ」と主張した。

さらに、欧州諸国は当初、サンクトペテルブルクをロシア領と認めていなかったと指摘。クリミア半島を含め、欧米諸国がロシアの領土と認めていないウクライナの占領地での状況と同一視した。

Translation

(CNN) On the 9th, Russian President Vladimir Putin superimposing himself on the Russian monarch Peter the Great lived in the latter half of the 17th century to the 18th century to show a posture to justify the invasion of Ukraine

Putin on that day visited an exhibition of Peter the Great, the first Russian emperor. He attempted to compare Peter the Great's war with Sweden in the 18th century to the current military invasion of Ukraine.

Putin said in his statement that Peter the Great was not trying to conquer, but was fighting for a territory that was legitimately owned by Russia.

He then pointed out similarities to today's Ukrainian war, suggesting that recent military action was justified because Ukraine was not an orthodox sovereign state, but actually a Russian territory.

Putin asked, "Why did Peter the Great go there?" He insisted, "He regained and strengthened (territory). Our destiny seems to be to 'regain and strengthen'."

He further added that European countries did not initially recognize St. Petersburg as Russian territory. I equated it with the situation in the occupied territories of Ukraine, which Western countries did not recognize as Russian territory, including the Crimean Peninsula.

              So, Putin equates his occupying of the Ukrainian territories to the act of Peter the Great. Putin has an interesting view about European history when he said that Russia’s destiny seems to be to 'regain and strengthen' like Perter the Great. I prefer comparing his aggression in 2022 in Ukraine to Hitler’s occupation of the Rhineland on March 7, 1936. Should Hitler’s aggression have been stopped, there would be no WWII.