Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday likened himself to Russia’s first emperor, Peter the Great, in an apparent bid to use the touted similarity as a justification of the invasion of Ukraine.

During a visit to an exhibition dedicated to Peter the Great, a 17th century Russian monarch, Putin likened Peter’s 18th century conquest of Sweden to his own military invasion of Ukraine.

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“Peter the Great waged the Great Northern War for 21 years. It would seem that he was at war with Sweden, he took something from them. Why did he go there? He took back and fortified,” the Russian President said, commenting on Peter’s conquest, and effectively stating that Peter did not conquer Sweden, but rather took back land that was rightfully Russia’s.

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“And it looks like our fate is to ‘take back and fortify’ too, if we are going to assume that these basic values form the basis of our existence then we will succeed in the solution of the tasks that lie ahead,” the 69-year-old added, suggesting that Ukraine was Russian territory too.

Putin had earlier made a similar comment, blaming Vladimir Lenin and the Soviet Union for the creation of Ukraine, which, according to the 69-year-old, is territory that rightfully belongs to Russia.

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The Russian President’s comments, understandably, did not sit well with Ukrainian leaders including President Volodymyr Zelensky, who saw it as an attempt to justify the theft of land.

“The West must draw a clear red line so the Kremlin understands the price of each next bloody step … we will brutally liberate our territories,” Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said in an online post after Putin’s comments, urging further actions against Russia from Western countries.