Putin reacts for first time to raid of Russian volunteer military on Russian territory
Russia's dictator, Vladimir Putin (Photo: Getty Images)
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, in an interview with the Russian 1 and RIA News television channels, commented for the first time on the events in the Belgorod and Kursk regions and the breakthrough by Russian volunteers.
"The explanation is very simple. All this happens against the backdrop of failures on the contact line and front line. They have not achieved any of the goals they set for themselves last year," Putin said.
At the same time, the dictator claims that the primary goal of the raid supposedly lies in "if the presidential elections in Russia are not disrupted, then at least somehow hinder the normal process of citizens' expression of will."
Putin also fantasized about supposedly "getting a trump card" for exchanging territories in possible negotiations.
"But thirdly - if something works out, to get some chance, some argument, some trump card in a possible future negotiation process: well, we'll return this to you, and you return that to us," he said.
The Russian dictator accuses Ukraine of events in the territory of the Belgorod and Kursk regions and does not mention that the border was breached by volunteers from volunteer battalions.
Background
Yesterday, March 12, the Russian Volunteer Corps and two other units broke through the Russian border and took control of several settlements, including in the Belgorod and Kursk regions.
In addition, Russians complain about drone attacks for the second night in a row. Thus, today, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that 58 drones were shot down during the night. But at the same time, there was a powerful fire at an oil refinery in Ryazan.
How drone attacks and border breaches are shifting the war onto Russian territory - read in the material of RBC-Ukraine.
