The President of the Russian Federation said that he wanted to protect the inhabitants of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and called these regions “historical territories” of Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Donetsk and Lugansk regions “historical territories” of the Russian Federation, adding that he started a war against Ukraine in order to end it and “protect people” in the Donbass. The head of the aggressor state stated this on Wednesday, January 18, during events dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad, writes telegram channel of the Kremlin pool.
“Everything we are doing today, including a special military operation, is, as I have said many times, an attempt to stop this war. That is the meaning of our operation. And to protect our people who live there in these territories. These are our historical territories,” Putin said.
In addition, the President of the Russian Federation complained about the collapse of the USSR, adding that the Russian Federation until 2014 did not claim its “historical territories.” Then, according to Putin, the Kremlin saw “the extermination of people associated with Russian culture” in the territory of Donbass.
“We endured for a long time, tried to reach an agreement for a long time. As it turns out now, we were simply led by the nose, deceived. This is not the first time this has happened to us and happens. Nevertheless, we did our best to resolve this situation by peaceful means,” he added. the President of the Russian Federation.
According to Putin, at the moment it is clear to him that it was “impossible” to resolve the situation peacefully, while Ukraine was allegedly preparing to transfer the conflict “into a hot phase” itself.
Recall that the report of the Institute for the Study of War ISW dated January 17 stated that on January 18 Putin may announce new mobilization in Russia.
Before that, a number of Russian media outlets, citing Volodymyr Rogov, a member of the occupation council of the administration of the Zaporozhye region, wrote that Putin is preparing a major statement on the military situation in Ukrainewhich supposedly was supposed to sound during events dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad.
