'Russia had no other choice': Putin vows to win the war in Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin vowed to continue Russia's bloody offensive in Ukraine as the war neared its seventh week on Wednesday.
He insisted the campaign was going as planned despite a major withdrawal and significant losses.
Russia invaded on 24 February with the assumed goal of taking Kyiv, toppling the government and installing a Moscow-friendly regime.
In the six weeks since the ground advance stalled and Russian forces lost potentially thousands of fighters and were accused of killing civilians, summarily executing prisoners of war, and other atrocities.
Putin said on Tuesday that Moscow “had no other choice” and that the invasion aimed to protect people in parts of eastern Ukraine and to “ensure Russia’s own security”.
He vowed it would “continue until its full completion and the fulfilment of the tasks that have been set.”
Speaking at the Vostochny space launch facility in Russia’s far east, in his first known foray outside Moscow since the war began, Putin also said the West would fail to isolate Russia and its economy has withstood sanctions.
Addressing the pace of the campaign, he said Moscow was proceeding “calmly and rhythmically” to “achieve the planned goals while minimising the losses”.
For now, Putin’s forces are gearing up for a major offensive in the Donbas, where Russian-allied separatists and Ukrainian forces have been fighting since 2014, and where Russia has recognised the separatists’ claims of independence.
Military strategists say Moscow believes local support, logistics and the terrain in the region favour its larger, better-armed military, potentially allowing Russia to finally turn the tide.
US President Joe Biden for the first time referred to Russia’s invasion as a “genocide” and said, “Putin is just
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