Putin: Russia Will Defend Donbass, No Plans to Occupy Ukrainian Territories
On Thursday, February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced “a special military operation” to defend Donbass. “I have made the decision to carry out a special military operation,” the president declared in a special message to Russian citizens, detailing that the objective of the operation is “to protect the people who have been subjected for eight years to genocide by the Kiev regime.”
“To do this, we will embark on a demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, and handing over to justice those who committed numerous atrocities against civilians, including [against] citizens of the Russian Federation,” Putin added.
He stressed that the circumstances have forced Moscow to take “decisive and immediate actions” and noted that “the People’s Republics of Donbass have turned to Russia with a request for help.” He further emphasized that “Russia cannot exist with a constant threat emanating from Ukrainian territory” and that Russian authorities “have been left with no other option” to protect the Russian people.
The Russian head of state explained that the Russian military operation will be carried out in self-defense. “Today’s events are not related to the desire to undermine the interests of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, but to protect Russia itself from those who have taken Ukraine hostage and are trying to use it against our country and its people,” he said.
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The president addressed the Ukrainian people and reaffirmed that Moscow’s actions are “self-defense against the threats” it faces and “in the face of an even greater calamity than the current one.”
“As difficult as it may be,” he said addressing the people of Ukraine, “I ask you to understand and call for cooperation to turn over this tragic page as soon as possible and move forward together, without allowing anyone to interfere in our affairs, in our relationships, but [for us to] build them independently, so that the necessary conditions are created to overcome all problems and, despite the existence of state borders, strengthen ourselves from within as a single entity.”
No plans to occupy Ukrainian territories
“We do not have plans to occupy Ukrainian territories,” Putin affirmed. “We are not going to impose anything on anyone by force.”
At the same time, he stressed on the right of nations to self-determination. “Neither at the time of the creation of the USSR, nor after the Second World War, no one ever asked the inhabitants of these territories or those that make up today’s Ukraine how they wanted to organize their lives. Our policy is based on freedom,” Putin declared. He added that it is everyone’s freedom “to determine their own future and that of their children. And we consider it important that all peoples living on the territory of today’s Ukraine can exercise this right—the right to choose.”
Appeal to the Ukrainian military
Putin also addressed the Ukrainian military in his message, reminding them of their history of fighting the Nazis during the Second World War. “Your fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers did not fight the Nazi occupiers and did not defend our common Motherland to allow today’s neo-Nazis to seize power in Ukraine,” he said. “You swore the oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people and not to the junta, the people’s adversary which is plundering Ukraine and humiliating the Ukrainian people.”
Putin assured that all those members of the Ukrainian armed forces who refuse to comply with “criminal” orders from Kiev and lay down their weapons will be able to leave the war zone without hindrance.
“I ask you to lay down your weapons immediately and go home,” he continued. “I want to make it clear: all members of the Ukrainian Army who do this will be able to leave the war zone without obstacles and return to their families… All responsibility for any possible bloodshed will fall on the conscience of the regime that rules Ukraine.”
Furthermore, Putin pointed out that Russia remains one of the most powerful nuclear nations on the planet, so no potential aggressor should have any doubt that it will be completely defeated.
“As for the military sphere, modern Russia, even after the collapse of the USSR and the loss of much of its nuclear potential, is today one of the most powerful nuclear nations,” he stated. “And what’s more: it has certain advantages in a series of next-generation weapons. So, there should be no doubt that a direct attack on Russia would lead to defeat and dire consequences for the potential aggressor.”
Events in the Eurasian region started developing rapidly since last Monday, after the Russian president announced Russia’s recognition of the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance agreements have been signed between Russia and both republics.
In his special address on Thursday, Putin recalled that over the last eight years “practically not a single day has passed without shelling of the towns of Donbass. The killing of civilians, the siege, the harassment of people, including children, women, the elderly, do not stop.”
“The so-called civilized world,” Putin added, “of which our Western colleagues call themselves the only representatives, prefers not to take notice of this, as if all this horror, genocide, to which almost 4 million people are subjected, did not exist.”
On Wednesday, February 23, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, stated in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly that the decision to recognize the independence of the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk is “a direct consequence of years of sabotage by Kiev of its obligations in a package of measures approved by Security Council resolution 2202. For eight years Kiev has deceived the international community, by compromising its commitment to the Minsk agreements.”
Featured image: Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a national address in which he announced a “special military operation” in the Donbass region, February 24, 2022. Photo: RIA Novosti
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/EF/SC
