Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday pedophilia had become the norm in the West.

"Look at what they do to their own people: the destruction of families, of cultural and national identities and the perversion that is child abuse all the way up to pedophilia, are advertised as the norm... and priests are forced to bless same-sex marriages," Putin said.

Putin began his state of the nation address on Tuesday, ahead of the first anniversary of Moscow's military operation in Ukraine.

"I am speaking to you at a difficult and key moment for our country, at a time of profound changes everywhere in the world," Putin told Russia's top officials and political elites.