Russia's attack in Ukraine, according to President Vladimir Putin, is intended to "unite the Russian people."
Putin used the notion of "historical Russia" to claim that Ukrainians and Russians are one nation in an interview that will run on Sunday in an effort to legitimize his 10-month war in Ukraine and undermine Ukraine's sovereignty.
Russia is Ready to Negotiate Over Ukraine
Putin stated in excerpts from a national television show for Rossiya 1 that Russia's "geopolitical opponents" want to "rip Russia apart, historical Russia."
Putin reaffirmed that Moscow was willing to discuss, but stated that Ukraine and its Western partners have rejected negotiations, Al Jazeera reported.
In southern Ukraine, the death toll from Russian assaults on the city of Kherson has grown to 16 and 64 people have been injured, the military governor of the region stated on Christmas Day, as air raid sirens wailed across the nation.
Yaroslav Yanushevych stated through Telegram that three of the deceased were mine clearance workers. Saturday, the Ukrainian army recorded 71 strikes on the partially recovered province, including 41 against the region's major urban center.
Despite Russia's withdrawal from the city, Kherson remains within reach of Moscow's armaments and is constantly threatened.
Per Reuters, Russian strikes on power stations have left millions without energy, and according to Zelenskiy, Moscow intends to make the last few days of 2022 gloomy and challenging.
The general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces stated that air and missile attacks against the country's key infrastructure remained a possibility.
According to a Facebook post, Russian soldiers have blasted hundreds of towns and locations along the front line. Referring to an attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Saturday, which police claim killed at least ten people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, "We will identify every Russian killer."
Putin stated that the West initiated the crisis in 2014 by ousting a pro-Russian Ukrainian president during the Maidan Revolution. Following this, Russia annexed Crimea, and rebel troops supported by Russia began fighting in eastern Ukraine.
Putin portrays the Ukraine war, which he refers to as a "special military operation," as a watershed event in which Moscow finally faced up to a Western bloc that, according to him, has been attempting to destroy Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
According to Ukraine and the West, Putin has no justification for what they view as an imperialistic occupation war. Putin referred to Russia as a "special country" and stated that the great majority of its citizens shared a desire to defend it.
Russia-Ukraine War
President Joe Biden and Zelensky addressed the characteristics of a "fair peace" when Zelensky visited the United States on Wednesday for his first overseas travel since the war began in February.
Zelensky has outlined ten requirements that must be followed for peace to be reached, including the complete departure of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory. In accordance with Ukrainian requests, this would also involve a Russian pullout from the Crimean Peninsula, as per The Hill.
Russia took Crimea in 2014 after a referendum endorsed by Russia and denounced as unlawful by the majority of the international world. Putin has already demanded that Ukraine and the international world acknowledge Crimea as a part of Russia, but neither has done so.
Putin stated in the interview that Russia is protecting its national interests and citizens throughout the ten-month struggle, as reported by The Associated Press. However, he stated that Russia is willing to discuss "some acceptable results" with all warring parties.
In a televised news conference on Thursday, Putin referred to the conflict for the first time as a war and stated that Russia's objective is to end it. Previously, he simply referred to it as a "military special operation."
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