Putin: The West is pushing gender change experimentation on children...

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Putin portrayed the annexation as a holy war against the West, using startling rhetoric.

"They [the West] are moving toward open Satanism," he said in a speech broadcast to millions online.

Western elites were teaching "sexual deviation" to children who changed their gender, he said. "We're fighting for historical Russia, to protect our children and grandchildren from this experiment to change their souls," he added.

Putin invoked Jesus by name to bear witness to his "truth" and portrayed himself in messianic terms.

"I believe in the spiritual power of the Russian people and my spirit is its spirit, the suffering of the people is my suffering," he said.

"The destruction of the Western hegemony is irreversible," Putin added, as he neared the climax of his oration.

His new mysticism stood in contrast to his justification for seizing Crimea in 2014, which he based on historical grounds.

Putin also blamed "Anglo-Saxons", referring to the UK and US, for blowing up two Russian gas pipelines to Germany this week — in a potential casus belli with Nato.

He jeered the European public for soaring food and energy prices due to his invasion. "You need food," Putin said. "You can't heat your apartments", he said.

The rest of his speech went along well-worn lines, accusing "the West" of imperialism, colonialism, hypocrisy, and historical sins such as the bombing of Hiroshima and Dresden in WW2.

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