Zakharova: Russia’s operation does not begin war, it prevents global one

MOSCOW, Feb.24. (ST). Russia’s special operation in Ukraine is not a beginning of war. It is called to prevent a global confrontation and put an end to hostilities in Donbass, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the NTV channel on Thursday.

“This is not a beginning of war. It prevents a global military confrontation and puts an end to the war that has been underway [in Donbass],” Zakharova said.

She stressed that a real, sanguinary war with civilian casualties had continued in Donbass for the previous eight years.

“The war was waged on different fronts: we experienced the pressure of sanctions and on the information front we saw some monstrous fakes against us one cannot read about in any textbook. Also, there was a psychological war – attempts were made to set our people and our elite against each other, and so on,” Zakharova said.

Evacuation of Russian diplomats from Ukraine concluded last night

In another development, Zakharova told NTV that the evacuation of Russian diplomats from Ukraine concluded last night.

“The evacuation of our diplomats concluded last night, our diplomatic and consular facilities no longer operate there, we don’t have any diplomats there,” she noted.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed on Thursday when asked whether the developments in Ukraine could be called a war that Russia is carrying out a special operation in Ukraine.

Denazification means that Ukraine should be liberated from neo-Nazis

“This is a special operation. I don’t think it is necessary for me to explain anything, since the president [of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin] gave exhaustive explanations in his address to the Russian citizens in the morning,” Peskov told journalists.

He affirmed that denazification means that Ukraine should be liberated from neo-Nazis.

“Ideally, Ukraine should be liberated, cleaned from neo-Nazis, from people sharing pro-Nazi sentiment and ideas,” Peskov pointed out, when asked to explain remarks about the need to denazify Ukraine.

Peskov also clarified that the demilitarization of Ukraine meant “the need to cancel out the military capabilities that have significantly grown recently, particularly because of other countries’ activities.” When asked to specify if it was going to include the elimination of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Kremlin Spokesman said: “I have already answered this question.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the recognition of the LPR and DPR on February 21. Treaties on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance were signed with their leaders. This happened against a backdrop of soaring tensions in Donbass, massive artillery bombardments and the evacuation of civilians.

On Thursday morning, Putin said that in response to a request from the leaders of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to conduct a special military operation. The Russian leader said Moscow’s plans did not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories, according to TASS.

Compiled by : Basma Qaddour