The New York Times reports:
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said on Tuesday that the “main goal” of the war in Ukraine was “to help people” in the country’s east, the latest sign that Russia is focused on the battle for the Donbas region as the next stage of the war.
“What we are doing is helping people and saving people, on the one hand, and on the other hand, we are simply taking measures to ensure the security of Russia itself,” Mr. Putin said. “It is obvious that we had no other choice.”
“I said it from the very beginning,” Mr. Putin said. “The main goal is to help people in the Donbas.” He then reprised his claims that the West had fostered “neo-Nazism” in Ukraine to turn the country into an “anti-Russian bridgehead.”
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Putin makes his first extended remarks on the war since last month: the “main goal” is “to help people” in the Donbas, the latest sign that Russia is focused on the battle there as the next stage of the war. https://t.co/ipMnefJPEO
— Anton Troianovski (@antontroian) April 12, 2022
Vladimir Putin said today that the “main goal” of the war is “to help people” in the eastern part of Ukraine, marking a stark departure from his original justification for the invasion. https://t.co/8KDOCkQiDk
— Axios (@axios) April 12, 2022