Russian President Vladimir Putin does not wish to address the country on the occasion of the first anniversary of the start of the war against Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the RIA Novosti news agency.
In his message to the two houses of the parliament on Tuesday, Putin explained that the “special operation” will continue according to plan and carefully and that the more long-range weapons Ukraine receive from the West, the further the threat must be pushed from the Russian border.
On the occasion of the Russian holiday and the anniversary of the start of the war, the Ukrainian artillery increased its shelling of the areas under Russian control. As a result, according to the Donetsk authorities, six civilians lost their lives and 13 were injured during the past day.
Late on Thursday, the Russian Ministry of Defense issued a statement for the second time, in which it warned that Ukraine was preparing to invade Moldova’s territory along Transnistria, framing the operation as a response to an attack by Russian forces stationed there. The ministry said it had noticed a significant concentration of troops and military equipment, as well as increased drone activity on the border between Ukraine and the breakaway Transnistrian Republic of Moldova.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the planned Ukrainian provocation poses a direct threat to the Russian peacekeeping contingent legally stationed in the Dniester area. The ministry warned that the Russian armed forces will respond accordingly.
Russian peacekeeping forces are stationed in the territory of Transnistria, which belongs to Moldova, and since 1992 they supervise the observance of the ceasefire that ended the civil war that broke out with the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and on the other hand, Russian guards guard the ammunition warehouses in the village of Cobasna, created after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Europe.
MTI: Demeter Pogár
