Russian president Vladimir Putin used his address at the Valdai forum on Thursday to issue a challenge: Western liberal societies are crumbling, convulsing in moral chaos, and Russia is emerging as a sanctuary of tradition. He warned of “gender terrorism” driving Europeans toward Russia, and spotlighted the televised killing of conservative American voice Charlie Kirk as evidence of the West’s internal collapse.
The hidden frontline: Here’s why Putin’s Valdai speech was actually a cultural manifestoThe Russian president’s Valdai address shifted the focus from war and geopolitics to values, identity, and the collapse of Western liberalism