2024-03-18 18:00:32
Special military operation emphasized at concert marking 10th anniversary of Crimean annexation
Thousands gather in Red Square and shout “Russia”
After winning a fifth term with a record 87% of the vote, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the occupied territory of Ukraine “returned territory” and said, “We will move forward together.”
At a concert marking the 10th anniversary of the annexation of Crimea held at Red Square in Moscow on the 18th (local time), President Putin said, “The road for Donbass (Donetsk and Luhansk) and Novorossiya (eastern and southern regions of Ukraine) to return to their homeland was more difficult and tragic. “We did it,” he said.
He emphasized the legitimacy of Ukraine’s ‘special military operation’ in his first speech in front of a crowd since winning a fifth term in the presidential election on the 15th to 17th with the highest vote percentage ever.
It emphasized that Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson in eastern and southern Ukraine, which Russia claims to have acquired as new territory following a special military operation, are currently Russian territory.
Ukraine and the European Union (EU) do not recognize this.
President Putin called Russia’s annexation of the Crimea Peninsula on March 18, 2014 the ‘Russian Spring’ and also wanted the residents of Donbas and Novorossiya to return to Russia, and these regions would be restored through a special military operation in 2022. He claimed to have returned to Russia.
He then announced that he would restore the railway to the Crimea peninsula through the new territory.
President Putin said on this day that he heard that the railway connecting Rostov-on-Don, a city in southern Russia adjacent to Ukraine, to Donetsk, Mariupol and Verdyansk in eastern and southern Ukraine has been restored. “We will move it directly to the port city,” he said.
“This railway will be an alternative route to the Crimea peninsula, replacing the Crimean Bridge,” he said, adding, “This is how we move forward together.”
“Crimea is not only a strategically important territory, but also our history, tradition and pride,” he said. “They have never been separated from Russia.”
When President Putin said, “All of this was possible thanks to the Russian people,” thousands of people in Red Square chanted “Russia! Russia!”
After meeting with Nikolai Kharitonov (Russian Communist Party), Vladislav Davankov (New People Party), and Leonid Slutsky (Russian Freedom Party), who were running in this presidential election, at the Kremlin Palace, President Putin went on stage at a concert and sang the Russian national anthem together.
The concert commemorating the 10th anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea was held the day following the presidential election and was a celebration of President Putin’s fifth term.
These elections were also held in occupied Ukraine and Crimea.
On this day, people gathered at Red Square six hours before the start of the performance, and some waved Russian flags and shouted for Russia.
Police erected iron fences around the subway station and surrounding streets near Red Square and controlled the movement of people.
/yunhap news
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