No Doubt 'Noble Goals' of Russia's Special Operation in Ukraine Will Be Implemented – Putin
08:42 GMT 12.04.2022 (Updated: 09:56 GMT 12.04.2022)
© Sputnik / POOL / Go to the mediabankVladimir Putin during a meeting with the president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Francesco Rocca
![Vladimir Putin during a meeting with the president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Francesco Rocca Vladimir Putin during a meeting with the president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Francesco Rocca - Sputnik International, 1920, 12.04.2022](https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/0c/05/1091265510_0:0:3129:1760_1920x0_80_0_0_7fdfadfad6837087ac7d8472e5ac43c4.jpg)
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A special operation to demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 24 February, following a request for help from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, which saw weeks of intensifying shelling by Ukrainian forces.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the objectives of the special military operation in Ukraine will be implemented.
"It will be so. There is no doubt", Putin said during a meeting with workers from the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia's Far East on Tuesday, commenting on the wish of one of them that the goals and objectives of the operation be fulfilled.
According to him, this operation "has absolutely clear and noble goals".
"The main goal is to help the people of Donbass [region in eastern Ukraine], whose independence we recognised. We were forced to do so because the Kiev authorities, pressed by the West, refused to comply with the Minsk agreements aimed at a peaceful solution of the Donbass-related problems", Putin underscored.
He added that an armed standoff with the anti-Russian forces nurtured in Ukraine was inevitable, and that it was just a matter of time.
Putin said that those forces had started to turn Ukraine into "an anti-Russian foothold", fostering "the seeds of nationalism and neo-Nazism that have existed for a long time there".
"Russia clashing with those forces was inevitable, and they were only choosing the time for an attack", he added.
Putin also praised Russian officers for rendering assistance to the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), in sync with the special operation.
"We know that today our officers are participating in a special military operation in Ukraine's Donbass [region], providing assistance to the people's republics of Donbass. They act courageously, competently, and effectively, using the most advanced weapons fitted with unique specifications", the Russian president noted.
Russia's Special Op in Ukraine
Russia launched its special operation to demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine on 24 February after the DPR and the LPR appealed to Moscow for help amid increased attacks by the Ukrainian Army. The Russian Defence Ministry underscored that the operation is only targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure with high-precision weapons and that civilians are not in danger.
In late March, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Sergei Rudskoy said the main tasks of the special operation's first stage had been implemented.
"The combat potential of the armed forces of Ukraine has been significantly reduced, which allows, I emphasise once again, to focus the main efforts on achieving the main goal - the liberation of Donbass", Rudskoy underlined.