Putin believes it is aliens that govern Ukraine

The scale of losses in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) suggests that Ukrainian officials behave like aliens or foreigners because they do not think about their people, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).

"It appears to me at times that those who govern Ukraine are like aliens or foreigners… They just don't think [about people],” the Russian president said.

During the entire period of military operations in the Kursk direction, which began on August 6, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost more than 8,200 servicemen, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Putin gives Russia's primary goal in special military operation

The primary goal of the Russian military operation in Ukraine is to liberate the Donbas, President Vladimir Putin said at the Eastern Economic Forum.

"The enemy's goal was to make us nervous, make us fuss and transfer troops from one area to another and stop our offensive in key areas, primarily in Donbas, the liberation of which is our primary goal," Putin said.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine "have not succeeded," he added.

In September 2022, Putin said that the goal of Russia-led operation in Ukraine was to eliminate the anti-Russian enclave in Ukraine. At the end of January 2023, the president said that the goal of the special operation was to protect people and Russia itself from threats that they were trying to create in historical Russia-adjacent territories.