Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of «Satanism» and bemoaned that «there are supposedly genders besides women and men» on Friday.
Vladimir Putin has accused the West of undermining «traditional values» in service to «Satanism,» prompting some to compare the Russian president’s remarks to rhetoric from MAGA Republicans.
Putin said that «Western elites» were pushing a «radical denial of moral norms, religion and family» during a speech on Russia’s claimed annexation of four regions of Ukraine on Friday. He said that residents of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were becoming Russian citizens «forever» before setting his sights on the «challenge» of values held in the U.S. and allied countries.
«The dictatorship of the Western elites is directed against all societies, including the peoples of the Western countries themselves,» Putin said, according to a translation from Reuters. «This is a challenge to all. This is a complete denial of humanity, the overthrow of faith and traditional values. Indeed, the suppression of freedom itself has taken on the features of a religion: outright Satanism.»
The Russian president also spoke about the West’s supposedly «insane» recognition of LGBTQ people during the speech, while echoing recent rhetoric from Republicans opposed to transgender rights.
