Photo copyright: Reuters
Photo Caption,
Peskov asks not to confuse his words about the war with the words of opponents of the war
March 22, 2024
The press secretary of the President of Russia Dmytro Peskov admitted that the “special military operation” in Ukraine actually turned into a war.
From February 24, 2022, the Russian authorities officially call the large-scale invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation”. People were persecuted for talking about the war in Russia.
The legal status of the so-called SVO, according to the Kremlin spokesman, de jure has not changed, but de facto everything turned into a war against the background of the increasing involvement of the West in the conflict.
“We are in a state of war. Yes, it started as a special military operation, but as soon as this group was formed there, when the collective West became a participant on the side of Ukraine, it became a war for us. I am convinced of this,” said Peskov in an interview with the Russian newspaper “Arguments and Facts”.
According to him, every Russian should understand this “for their internal mobilization.”
Photo author, State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Photo Caption,
The Russian authorities began to call the war a war. The photo shows the consequences of a night attack on a house in Khmelnytskyi
Later, at a briefing with journalists, Peskov had to explain his words. He stated that legally Ukraine is still a “special military operation”, but in fact it has already turned into a war.
Although it is not the first time that Peskov tries to be cautious about wording. For example, on February 14, on the sidelines of the Future Technologies Forum, he said the following: “A special military operation was launched against Ukraine. Subsequently, it took the form of a war against the collective West. A war when the countries of the collective West, led by the United States of America, are directly involved in this conflict.” .
Russians are regularly fined for using the word “war” under an administrative article on “discrediting” the Russian army. For more extensive anti-war statements, Russians are prosecuted under articles on “military fakes”.
Peskov asked not to compare his words with the words of opponents of the war.
“This is a completely inappropriate comparison, because there [в антивоєнних заявах] is not my context. The word “war” is used in different contexts. It absolutely is [точно]. You will simply compare which context I have and which context [у противників вторгнення] “, Peskov explained to journalists.
The goals of the war?
Photo Caption,
On March 22, Russia carried out the largest attack on Ukraine’s energy sector during the entire war
Peskov also stated at the briefing that Russia should “liberate the territories of new regions”, go to the “borders” and push back the enemy.
Also, the Russian official believes that there should be no state on the border with the Russian Federation that plans to take Crimea and new regions from Russia.
In February 2022, while justifying the war, Putin stated that he wanted to de-Nazify Ukraine.
However, recently the President of Russia said that Moscow is ready for peace talks, but only taking into account the territories captured by it and with security guarantees for Moscow.
In January 2024, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmytro Medvedev said that Russia will always fight against Ukraine – and there will be a reason for this in 10 or 50 years. Medvedev called Ukraine an “artificial country” and declared that the Russian Federation would never consider its government to be legitimate.