Russian President Vladimir Putin
(Picture: AP)Vladimir Putin has defended the Russian invasion of Ukraine saying its goals are “clear and noble”, according to media.
Russian news agencies quoted the leader saying Moscow had no choice but to launch a military operation to protect Russia and a clash with Ukraine’s anti-Russian forces had been inevitable.
Speaking at an awards ceremony at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East, Putin was reported to have said: “Its goals are absolutely clear and noble.”
The Russian President said the main objective of Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine was to save people in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014.
“On the one hand, we are helping and saving people, and on the other, we are simply taking measures to ensure the security of Russia itself,” Putin said. “It’s clear that we didn’t have a choice. It was the right decision.”
Putin has previously tried to frame the invasion of Ukraine as a way to repel US and NATO’s “eastward expansion” which he claims is a threat to Russia.
He has also insisted to the Russian people that the “military operation” would “denazify” Ukraine falsely painting the government there as Nazis.
On day 48 of the war, Ukrainian resistance fighters were still believed to be holding out in Mariupol in the south of the country - despite reports that they are running low on ammunition and food.
Armed forces minister James Heappey praised the “amazing” 36th Marine Brigade of Ukrainian forces holding out in the city.
He highlighted their determination to fight to the “last man” and “last bullet”.
Mr Heappey, a former British army officer, stressed large-scale military advances could be carried out in Ukraine in the “dead of winter” on frozen ground or when it is hard-baked in the summer - but not in the spring when mud means tanks and other heavy military vehicles are unable to go “cross country”.
Putin is now believed to be pouring tens of thousands of soldiers into the Donbas after his invasion plan, to seize Kyiv within days, failed and his forces retreated from northern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Russia could resort to chemical weapons and called on the West to impose stronger sanctions on Moscow that would deter even talk of using such weapons.
Tens of thousands of civilians are feared to have been killed by Russian shelling and air strikes in the city, according to Mr Zelensky.
