Vladimir Putin appeared adrift of reality today as he told Russians ‘the greatest pleasure and the greatest happiness are children’ as his ballistic missiles killed a nine-year-old girl and her mother in Kiev.
The dictator addressed his people on Children’s Day in Russia and Ukraine.
The 70-year-old president, disconnected from all contact – suspected of having a secret young family with Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva whom he hid from his people – pontificated: “What is it, to live for self ?”
‘What does it mean? Maybe it means having fun, enjoying life.
“But it seems that those who say it don’t understand that the greatest pleasure and the greatest happiness are children.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses his people on Children’s Day in Russia and Ukraine
He spoke as a Kiev girl was killed and thousands of children were evacuated from the Belgorod region – where Ukrainian-backed anti-Putin supporters carried out heavy bombardment.
Heartbreaking photos showed a grieving grandmother today after finding out her daughter and granddaughter had been killed during a strike in the Ukrainian capital that left three people dead.
Her screams and moans of agony tore through the dead silence of the city as she saw the charred bodies of her daughter and nine-year-old granddaughter on the ground before her.
The barrage of cruise and ballistic missiles struck at 3 a.m. and destroyed homes, a kindergarten and a medical clinic in the Ukrainian capital, leaving a scene of utter devastation.
The mother, her nine-year-old daughter and another woman were killed in the airstrikes, which have been hitting the capital relentlessly for weeks. At least 12 other people were injured, including a child.
Bizarrely, Putin also told Russians about his sleeping habits as his war inflicted terror on Ukrainians and his own people.
“Of course, like everyone else, I sleep,” he announced.
“Unlike some people, you know, I try not to give up the sport, and that helps me in my job.
“I sleep, well, in general, maybe a little, six to seven hours, six most of the time.
‘Today, however, I slept much less, so it happened.’
Heartbreaking photos showed a grieving grandmother today after finding out her daughter and granddaughter had been killed in the Russian missile attack in the Ukrainian capital that left three people dead.
A parent sits next to the covered body of a 9-year-old girl near a health center damaged in a missile strike in Kyiv on Friday
Doctors, holding the woman’s hands, slowly pulled her away from the gruesome scene – her face etched in utter grief and shock that her loved ones now lay dead on the floor
A view of a residential building damaged in a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv on Thursday
On Tuesday, he is also believed to have been woken up by explosions from Ukrainian drones near his high-security official residence in the Moscow region.
His incongruous ramblings released today came as videos showed the Russian city of Belgorod being hit by powerful explosions.
Repeated shelling earlier on the bombed Russian border town of Shebekino led to mass evacuations amid fears it could lose control of a swath of territory in its final humiliation of the war.
The attacks meant Russians got a taste of the horror Putin inflicted on Ukrainian cities for more than 15 months.
It was the most intense day of attacks on Russian territory since the start of the war, deepening Putin’s failed war that was to see Ukraine crumble in less than a week.
A strike hit a Monocrystal factory in Shebekino.
Monocrystal is the world’s largest producer of man-made sapphires, used in the production of expensive glass for Apple smartwatches.
But the premises would have been used by the Russian army.
The Russian volunteer corps claimed to be fighting on the outskirts of Shebekino.
The Free Russian Legion has called on the Russian military to mutiny.
“Now is the time to make the right decision,” they said in a statement.
“You are sent into a criminal and predatory war – but you are not slaves.
“Putin’s regime puts you before a choice: go die in a foreign country or suffer cannibal prison sentences for refusing to become an occupier.
“We urge you to set aside this paradigm of slavery and come to the side of good.”
They are asked to “lay down their arms and make a decision – to no longer participate in this war and to absent themselves from hostilities in Ukrainian captivity under humane conditions, under the supervision of representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross” – or to join Russian patriots “who are waging a war of liberation against the Putin regime”.
Video showed Russian district administration officials in the border town of Shebekino burning documents amid fears the settlement could be seized by Ukrainian-backed anti-Putin supporters.
Russians have been seen queuing for petrol to escape their own region amid real signs it could be under the control of enemies of Putin and Ukrainians.
A student has spoken of “fear and panic” in her Russian border town of Shebekino, highlighting how Putin’s war has put residents in acute danger.
The scared and desperate 18-year-old said in a video: ‘My family has no money and no way to travel out of town.
“I was caught more than once in the bombardments.
“I’ve seen people running out of their homes, literally in their underwear, to shelters, basements or [they] fell down and hid.
“I saw mothers covering their children.
“I saw fear and panic in people’s eyes.
“It scares me to think that kids as young as seven know what…Grad shells are.
“It literally destroys our children’s psyches.”
Residents’ nerves are “tight”, she said, accusing Russian authorities of failing to ensure the safety of citizens.
The technical college student pleaded, “I want to live like other cities in Russia.
“Shebekino is part of Russia…
‘We are asking for help.
