SAMARKAND: President Vladimir Putin on Friday grinned as the Ukrainian military launched a quick counteroffensive, but he issued a warning that if the situation worsened, Russia would retaliate more violently.
Speaking in the Uzbek city of Samarkand during a conference of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Putin justified the invasion as a necessary precaution against what he claimed was a Western scheme to sever Russia from the rest of the world.
He said that Moscow was taking its time in Ukraine. And its objectives remained the same.
“The Kiev government said that a counteroffensive operation had been started and was being actively carried out. Let’s watch how it progresses and what happens “Putin smiled as he stated.
His initial public response to his soldiers’ humiliation in the Kharkiv region of northern Ukraine a week prior was what sparked the unusually vehement public condemnation from Russian military pundits.
In retaliation, Russia attacked Ukrainian infrastructure, including a reservoir dam and energy supply. According to Putin, these strikes may grow worse.
“The Russian military forces have recently struck a few delicate strikes. Consider them to be a warning. The response will be more severe if the circumstance persists in this manner “said he.
Putin added that Russia was steadily annexing fresh regions of Ukraine.
When asked if the “special military operation,” as he describes it, needed to be corrected, he responded, “The plan is not amenable to revision.”
The core work is still being carried out, notwithstanding the General Staff’s view that certain things are more vital than others, according to Putin. The liberation of the whole Donbass region is the major objective.
The Donbass is made up of two primarily Russian-speaking provinces in eastern Ukraine: Donetsk and Luhansk. Luhansk is now completely under the authority of rebel troops that are backed by Russia.
Nevertheless, Russia currently controls around 5% of all of Ukraine, including the majority of the southerly provinces of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson as well as Crimea, which it annexed in 2014 and now sees as a part of its territory.
