Why Putin is casting the Ukraine war as a fight for Russia’s survival

Russian President Vladimir Putin has increasingly cast the Ukraine war as an epic fight for Russia’s survival, accusing the West of “using Ukraine as a battering ram against Russia and as a testing range.”

In his telling, the West started the war, and Russia has everything to lose — even when all available evidence points to Putin launching an unprovoked invasion seeking to topple Ukraine’s government.

As Russia’s losses mount, Putin is employing a psychological tool to get his people behind a conflict with no end in sight, according to several analysts.