An enormous crowd of Russian dignitaries sat quietly as Vladimir Putin blabbed on for hours today about global conflict, memories of World War 2 and paedophiles.
The most-worrying threat made during the rambling speech was about the looming threat of a "global conflict".
Offering no hope of an end to the Ukraine war, which started a year ago today, Putin reawakened fears of a new cold war.
But as he blamed the West for having "started the war", he gave his own personal memories of recent history and made a series of deranged statements, which had little basis in reality.
In one section of the diatribe, he said that paedophilia has become "the norm" in the West, and made veiled homophobic statements.
He rallied the audience, claiming that the West will do whatever it can to destroy Russia, harked on about the economy and even issued a nuclear threat.
Below are the seven key moments in the warlord's speech today...
Paedophiles and a gender-neutral God
Within moments of taking the podium, Putin asserted that paedophilia is "announced as a normal thing" in the West.
He mentioned it while discussing LGBT+ people, which he has done in the past to suggest the US and Europe is trying to chip away at Russian family values.
Despite Russia's awful track record in relation to LGBT+ rights, he claimed: “That’s fine. They’re adults. They have the right to live their lives.
"We are always very tolerant about this in Russia.”
He added that scripture, supposedly biblical scripture, is between a male and female as he blasted the Church of England for considering gender-neutral terms for God.
Alternate reality
While most of the world blames Putin for the invasion of Ukraine, the tyrant's reality is somewhat skewed.
In the speech, he claimed that Russia was open to dialogue with NATO about implementing a globally-equal security system.
But "we were getting dishonest answers", he said, adding that the "whole planet is dotted" with US and NATO bases.
He then claimed that Russia's "military operation" is not a war, but an intervention to "stop the war" in the Donbas.
Putin claimed that last year, Ukraine was "prepared" for carrying out disciplinary action against ethnic Russians in the Donbas.
"We aren't fighting the Ukrainian people," he said on Tuesday.
"Ukraine has become hostage of the Kyiv regime and its western masters, which have effectively occupied the country," he claimed.
Deploying the devil himself
Putin rallied up the crowd, claiming that the West will do whatever means at its disposal destroy Russia.
The West will use anyone in order to fight Moscow, Putin says – “Nazis, even the devil himself.”
The West wants to “finish” with Russia “forever,” Putin claims.
“They want to grow a local conflict into a global opposition,” he said.
He accused the West of engaging in “information attacks” on young people, the Orthodox church, and culture.
“They are destroying families, cultures, national identities,” he said. “We will defend our children from degradation.”
Nuclear risk
Putin's speech is even more terrifying because he has control over Russia's red nuclear buttons.
After the speech ended, Russia announced it will be suspending its participation in the New START treaty with the United States.
The New START treaty was signed in Prague in 2010 as a successor to a similar agreement signed by Washington and the Soviet Union in 1991. It seeks to limit and reduce the number of strategic offensive arms.
“In this regard, I am forced to announce today that Russia is suspending its participation in the strategic offensive arms treaty,” Putin said.
It has previously been reported that if the treaty was to expire, the US would face increased risks in relation to its relationship with Russia.
It may also struggle to maintain solidarity within NATO, experts say.
In Putin's first direct warning today, he said: “The more long-range Western systems are being delivered to Ukraine, the farther we will be forced to move the threat from our borders.”
Economy
At one point, Putin's speech turned to his country's economy, which was lampooned by western sanctions earlier in the war.
He told parliamentarians today that the "Russian economy has overcome to risks it faced".
Drilling down on western sanctions, he boldly claimed that the "initiators" were simply "punishing themselves".
“To their own citizens, they say Russia is to blame for everything,” from energy bills to soaring food prices.
Paranoia
The whole mood of the tyrant's speech today was one of paranoia.
He claimed that the US, France and UK all have nuclear weapons aimed at Russia.
He said: "The latest statements of their leaders confirms this."
Putin earlier accused Ukraine of plotting "behind our backs" for a "very different scenario" while claiming that Russia tried to resolve the Ukraine conflict by "negotiating a peaceful way out".
At one point, he said Ukraine was trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and had access to chemical weapons.
