Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine’s Donbass region to “defend people” there against government forces, stressing that Moscow has “no plans to occupy Ukrainian territory.”
According to Press TV, in a televised address early on Thursday, Putin said he had ordered the Russian Federation’s military to carry out a “special military operation” in the Donbass region after the leaders of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk asked the Kremlin for military assistance in response to what they called “Ukrainian aggression.”
“Circumstances require us to take decisive and immediate action. The People’s Republics of Donbass turned to Russia with a request for help. In this regard, in accordance with Article 51, part 7 of the UN Charter, with the sanction of the Federation Council and in pursuance of the friendship treaties ratified by the Federal Assembly and mutual assistance with the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, I have decided to conduct a special military operation,” the Russian president said.
In 2014, Ukraine’s two regions of Donetsk and Lugansk – collectively known as the Donbass – were turned into self-proclaimed republics by ethnic Russians, leading to a bloody conflict between the government forces and the armed separatists.
The conflict worsened following a wave of protests in Ukraine that led to the overthrow of a democratically-elected pro-Russia government, which was later replaced with a Western-backed administration. The majority in those areas refused to endorse the new administration.
More than 14,000 people have been killed so far.
Ukraine, as well as the European Union (EU) and the United States, claims that Russia has a hand in the conflict in the Donbass. Moscow denies the allegation.
On Monday, Putin signed a decree recognizing the breakaway Lugansk and Donetsk regions as independent republics. The recognition followed an address in which he referred to eastern Ukraine as “ancient Russian lands” being “managed by foreign powers.”
In his address on Thursday, Putin said the special operation would aim to he “demilitarize” and “de-Nazify” Ukraine, stressing, “We have no plans to occupy Ukrainian territory.”
The Russian leader emphasized that the goal of the military operation “will be to defend people who for eight years are suffering persecution and genocide by the Kiev regime.”
“For this we will aim for demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, as well as taking to court those who carried out multiple bloody crimes against civilians, including citizens of the Russia Federation,” he declared.
