Putin criticises the “imperialist” West as Russia annexes Ukraine’s four regions, saying “Like they plundered India.”

In a heated speech on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin charged the West with violating the ideals of “truth, freedom, and justice” by pillaging nations like India.

As he announced the annexation of four regions in Ukraine, Putin claimed that “the West began its colonial programme back in the Middle Ages, and then continued the slave trade, the murder of Indian tribes in America, the pillage of India and Africa, and the wars of England and France against China.”

“What they did was purposefully wipe off entire ethnic groupings and drug-hook entire nations. They hunted people like animals for the sake of gathering land and resources. The fundamental nature of man, truth, freedom, and justice are all at odds with this, he said.

Putin claimed that the US and its allies wanted to obliterate Russia. He claimed that the West operated “like a parasite” and “robbed the entire planet” with its resources and advanced technology.

Putin stated, “History has called us to the field of battle to fight for our people, for our historic Russia, and for future generations.

The Kremlin issued another warning to Ukraine, telling it not to fight to reclaim the four territories before its planned annexation ceremony on Friday. A Ukrainian strike on the captured land, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, would be seen as an act of aggression against Russia itself.

As Russia annexes four territories, Ukraine expedites its NATO application.

The annexations are an effort by Russia to cement its achievements, at least on paper, and frighten Ukraine and its Western backers with the threat of a confrontation that will only get worse until they give in—which they have no signs of doing.

With “referendums,” sometimes held under duress, the Kremlin prepared the ground for land grabs that Ukraine and Western countries generally denounced as manipulated shams.