Russian President Vladimir Putin said the main goal of the Russian special operation in Ukraine is setting free the people of Donbass from the "genocide" being waged against them.

During an address in Luzhniki Stadium, Putin added that "[the Donbass residents], who did not agree with the [2014] coup [in Kiev], were immediately hit with punitive military operations. A blockade was immediately put in place against these people. They were subjected to systematic shelling, airstrikes. This is what is called 'genocide'."

Putin went on to say that Ukraine will be demilitarized and de-Nazified and that all "war criminals" responsible for the bloodshed in Donbass will face punishment. 

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Furthermore, he clarified that it was the only way to put an end to the "genocide" in that area.

Following a request from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) to protect them from attacks by Ukrainian forces and nationalist battalions, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the start of the military special operation in Ukraine on February 24. 

Putin stated that Russia had no choice but to intervene to assist the newly recognized Donbass republics.

The Kremlin has also repeatedly denied claims by foreign governments and media outlets that the operation was a Russian "invasion," emphasizing that Russian troops are not seeking to seize Ukraine but rather to disarm it and eliminate the nationalist threat. 

Despite this, Western nations imposed the harshest batches of economic sanctions on Russia, targeting the banking and energy sectors, as well as the Central Bank, and illegally freezing Russia's foreign reserves.