We have not had unity like this for a long time, says Putin at a concert amid Ukraine war
President Putin gives a speech at a concert in Moscow
Amid the war in Ukraine, Russian PresidentVladimir Putin addressed a gathering at a concert marking the eighth anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow.
"We had to get Crimea out of that humiliating position, humiliating condition, in which Crimea and Sevastopol were plunged as part of another country who was financing those territories," Putin said even as Russian troops continue their military operations in Ukraine.
Putin's latest comments come as US President Biden spoke to Chinese President Xi as Chinese leader told the US president thatwar is "in no one's interest".
"Crimean and Sevastopol residents did the right thing when they put up a rigid barrier against neo-Nazi and extreme nationalists because everything that happened in other territories and (everything) still going on is the best illustration of this," the Russian president said at the concert.
"People who have lived and who are still living in Donbass didn't accept this coup d'etat either," Putin said onthe war with Ukraine.
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"We have not had unity like this for a long time," Putin told the crowd. The Russian president said the "aim of the military operation" was "to end to the suffering of people in Donbass and the genocide is the main reason".
Putin had ordered "special military operation" in Ukraine on February 24 as Russian forces began bombarding the country as the tanks rolled in, however, the Ukraine Army has been fighting the Russian army for nearly four weeks even as President Biden announced $800 million arms package for President Zelensky's forces which included Stinger missiles and Switchblade Kamikazee drones.