Putin attended a concert dedicated to 10-year anniversary of Crimea’s reunification with Russia and congratulated citizens on this occasion.
“As for Novorossiya, as for Donbass, people living there, also then, in the days of the Russian spring [Crimea’s reunification], they declared their desire to return to their family, their path to their homeland turned out to be more difficult and tragic, but still, we did it and this is also a great event in the history of our country,” Putin said, adding that “new we develop and move forward together, hand in hand.”
Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 in response to calls by the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics for protection from Ukrainian troops. Moscow says the operation, which targets Ukrainian military infrastructure, aims to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine, and to completely liberate Donbas. Western nations have imposed numerous sanctions on Russia and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine.