Inaugural address by President Putin
Several years ago, they devised these plans. Their actions were to encourage international terrorist groups in the Caucasus and to move NATO's offensive infrastructure closer to our borders. The Soviet Union used indiscriminate Russophobia as a weapon, including by cultivating hatred of Russia over decades, especially in Ukraine, which was intended as a bridgehead against Russia. They turned the Ukrainian people into cannon fodder in 2014, pushing them into war with Russia. In Ukraine, a state coup led to the creation of a government that used the army against civilians and organised genocide, blockades, and terror against those who refused to recognize it.
In response to Kiev's public refusal to settle the Donbass issue peacefully and the fact that the Kiev regime was announcing nuclear weapons possession, so it was inevitable that a new offensive in Donbass was inevitable, which would be followed by an attack on Russia's Crimea, that is, on Russia.
Therefore, launching a preemptive military operation was the only option. Donbass will be liberated as a whole through this operation.
A majority of the neo-Nazis have been expelled from the Lugansk Peoples Republic. There has been fighting in the Donetsk Peoples Republic for several days. An echeloned line of permanent defenses was created by the Kiev occupation regime over the preceding eight years. In a head-on attack, heavy losses would have resulted, which is why our units, as well as those in Donbass, are acting competently and systematically, using military equipment and saving lives, working step by step to defeat the neo-Nazis, and help the people who became hostages and human shields.
Professional military personnel serving under contract are involved in this special operation. Aside from them are volunteer units comprised of people of different ethnicities, professions, and ages who are true patriots. The call of the heart prompted them to defend Russia and the Donbass region.
I have already instructed the Government and the Defence Ministry to determine the legal status of volunteers and personnel of the military units of the Donetsk and Lugansk peoples' republics. In terms of material, medical, and social benefits, it must be the same as the status of military professionals in the Russian army. Military and other equipment must be organized for volunteer units and the Donbass people's militia.