2023-09-30 09:38:15
September 13, 2023, Svobodny, Amur Oblast, Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to Amur Gas Chemical Complex Director General Alexey Vereshchagin, left, during a tour of the Gazprom Amur Gas Processing Plant, September 13, 2023 near th – Europa Press/Contacto/Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin Pool
Applauds the “courage” exhibited in the plebiscites that Ukraine does not recognize and reframes the war as an act of existential self-defense
MADRID, 30 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday marked the first anniversary of the annexation of the Ukrainian occupied regions of Jerson, Zaporiyia, Donetsk and Lugansk as a “historic and defining event”, defended by the “popular will” of citizens of the Donbas region.
On September 30, 2022, Putin proclaimed the annexation of the Ukrainian regions to the Russian Federation, which implied placing territories that were militarily occupied under his supposed sovereignty. A day earlier, the Russian authorities in these regions announced the overwhelming victory in a referendum of those in favor of their incorporation into Russia; plebiscites considered fraudulent by Ukraine and its allies, and by Amnesty International as “a flagrant violation of the IV Geneva Convention.”
For Putin, however, the vote was the result of a “conscious, long-awaited and long-awaited election fought tooth and nail by the residents of the Donbas region” in eastern Ukraine, who demonstrated “courage and courage.” relentless.” The president recalled eight previous years of conflict between Kiev and the separatist militias of Donetsk and Lugansk, and accused the Ukrainian government of having orchestrated a “large-scale civil war, terror and blockade” once morest the population.
“However, nothing and no one can break the will of millions of people, their faith in truth and historical justice,” Putin added in his speech, reported by the TASS agency.
RECONSTRUCTION EFFORT
The Russian president recognized the precarious situation of the population in these regions, where “there is still a lot of work ahead and difficult problems must be solved” for which it is necessary to launch “a large-scale program for reactivation and development socioeconomic” of what he called “historical territories” of Russia.
The Russian president has thus promised that both “schools and hospitals” and “residential buildings and roads, museums and monuments” will be rebuilt thanks to the “brotherly help” of “all regions of Russia.”
Putin ended up framing the invasion of Ukraine, as he had done so many other times, in what he described as an existential defense of Russian identity. “What we are doing is defending Russia itself, we are fighting together for our homeland, for our sovereignty, our spiritual values and our unity, in pursuit of victory,” the president said.
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