Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed special gratitude to the Special Operations Forces of the Russian Federation who are heroically performing their military duty in Ukraine.
"I want to thank the command, the personnel of the Special Operations Forces, veterans of the Special Forces units for their loyalty to the oath, for their impeccable service in the name of the people of Russia and our great Motherland,” said the Russian leader in a statement released by the Kremlin on Special Forces Day, marked on 27 February since 2015.
Putin recalled that the Special Operations Forces have repeatedly proved their readiness to act efficiently and competently in the most difficult conditions while solving the most challenging and responsible tasks.
Personnel of the Russian Special Operations Forces
© Photo : Russian Defense Ministry
The Russian President singled out those who these days are “heroically fulfilling their military duty in the course of a special operation to provide assistance to the people's republics of Donbass.”
“I wish good luck, success and all the best to you and your loved ones," Putin concluded.
This comes as Russia and militia forces from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics launched a special military operation in Ukraine on 24 February, aimed at "demilitarising and denazifying" the country following a breakdown of negotiations and continued Ukrainian artillery and mortar attacks on the Donbass republics.
The move followed months of escalating tensions in the region, marked by intensifying shelling by the Ukrainian Army, which resulted in civilian casualties in the Donbass republics.
Russia's Defence Ministry has repeatedly stressed that Russian forces did not launch any strikes on Ukrainian cities, only targeting the country's military infrastructure with high-precision strikes.