ASHGABAT (Realist English). The ultimate goal of the Russian special operation on the territory of the former Ukraine is the liberation of Donbass and the creation of conditions that would guarantee the security of Russia proper. This was stated in an interview with journalists at the end of a working visit to Turkmenistan by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Of course, I am the Supreme Commander-in-chief, but I still did not graduate from the General Staff Academy. I trust those people who are professionals. They act as they see fit to achieve the ultimate goal. As I have outlined, the ultimate goal is the liberation of Donbass, the protection of these people and the creation of conditions that would guarantee the security of Russia proper. That’s all. The work goes on calmly, rhythmically. As you can see, the troops are moving and reaching the boundaries that are set as a task at a certain stage of this combat work. Everything is going according to plan,” the head of state explained.
Putin reminded that in the early morning of February 24, he spoke about the purpose of the special operation directly and publicly to the whole country, to the whole world:
“I have nothing to add to this. Nothing has changed. And then, almost a few days later, I said that the tactics could be different, the tactics proposed by the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff: where to move the troops, where to move along, what objects to hit there, what to do during this time, when several groups were there, in the center of Ukraine, what should have been done during this time on Donbass. The Kiev regime has been preparing for this there for a long time, since 2014, so some distracting actions were carried out there.”
The President stressed that one should not talk about the timing of the special operation.
“I never talk about it, because this is life, these are real things. It is wrong to adjust to what deadlines is, because (I have already said this) this is associated with the intensity of the fighting, and the intensity is directly associated with possible losses. And first of all we have to think about saving the lives of our guys,” he added.
On June 28, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that the purpose of the Russian special operation on the territory of the former Ukraine was “to repel the neo-Nazi, fascist forces that came to power in the Ukraine and terrorized the population of the Republics of Donbass for many years.”
On February 24, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin announced the start of a special military operation of the Russian Armed Forces in the Ukraine. Its goals were called “demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.”