Sahra Wagenknecht calls Vladimir Putin a “criminal”

Surprisingly clear statements: BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht has distanced herself from Russian President Vladimir Putin because of the war in Ukraine. “I condemned this war,” said Wagenknecht at the ZDF annual review with Markus Lanz. “I consider politicians who start wars – and this also applies to Vladimir Putin – to be criminals.”

At the same time, she defended her party’s decision to leave the Bundestag when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj gave a speech there in June. There was no chance for a debate at the time, explained Wagenknecht. Only a “standing ovation” was planned for Zelensky, who had recently attacked the Russian nuclear forces with drones. That was “very negligent”.

Wagenknecht had already admitted on Wednesday that he had made a misjudgment of the situation shortly before the start of the Russian war of aggression in February 2022. “I was wrong back then too. I thought it was a threatening gesture,” she said on ZDF’s “heute journal”, referring to the time shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine.

At that time, Russia had fueled fears of an invasion with massive troop movements in the border area with Ukraine. However, Moscow denied any plans to attack.

Shortly before the Russian invasion, Wagenknecht said that Russia had no interest in invading Ukraine. “At that time, that was the assessment of the (Federal Intelligence Service) BND, which we were also informed about in the Bundestag. It was wrong,” she said on ZDF.

“Much was entirely predictable and this war could certainly have been avoided if more care had been taken not to cross the Russian red lines,” added the BSW boss.