In his annual New Year’s address televised Saturday, Vladimir Putin told viewers that “moral, historical rightness” is on Russia’s side, The Moscow Times reported. Putin said 2022 was a year marked by “truly pivotal, fateful events" that laid “the foundation for our common future, for our true independence,” according to the newspaper. The midnight address to the nation is usually filmed in Moscow, but this year Putin broadcast the message surrounded by soldiers who had apparently served in Ukraine. His comments come as Ukrainian cities faced a New Year’s Eve bombarded by Russian airstrikes that killed at least one person, according to Ukrainian news outlets. The war is now in its eleventh month.