The Russian Federation would have turned into a decrepit country if it had not protected Crimea and Donbass – Kommersant

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that if Russia had not protected people in Crimea, Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, it would inevitably “turn into a decrepit, useless” country.

“If we don’t protect our people in the Donbass, and now in the Kherson region, Zaporozhye, and Novorossiya, we would abandon people in Crimea. What would our country become in the end? To a decrepit, not self-sufficient, useless country, which everyone, with a large amount of natural resources, which everyone from the outside would pat patronizingly on the head and give us rotten potatoes in the form of humanitarian aid,” Mr. Putin said during the forum “ Everything for victory! in Tula.

He also emphasized that when deciding to launch a military operation in Ukraine, as well as to include new regions in the Russian Federation, he relied on the opinion of society. In his opinion, these decisions enjoy overwhelming support from the Russian population. “If it weren’t for this mood of society, nothing would have happened. We do what people expect from us,” the head of state emphasized.

Vladimir Putin added that there is sociological data according to which the majority of people in the country want to help Donbass. “Our citizens do not want to throw people there under the wheels of these neo-Nazis,” he added.

During the same event, the president said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) had turned into a terrorist organization. Mr. Putin also saidthat Russia needs to cover the border to protect civilian targets from Ukrainian shelling.

What happens after the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine – in online broadcasts “Ъ”.

Alexander Kislov