Russian military servicemen were behind the back of the self-defense forces in Crimea, and they acted in a very correct but resolute way, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
“Of course, our military servicemen stood behind the back of the
self-defense forces in Crimea. They acted in a very correct but, as I’ve
said already, a resolute and professional way,” Putin said during a
Q&A session on Thursday.
“It was just impossible to act otherwise and hold the referendum
openly, fairly, and decently and help the people express their opinion,”
he said.
“In conversations with my foreign counterparts, I haven’t concealed
that our goal was to provide conditions for the Crimeans to freely
express their will. Therefore, we had to take the necessary measures to
prevent the events from unfolding in a way they are unfolding in the
southeastern part of Ukraine today. So that there were no tanks, no
combat units of nationalists and people with extreme views but properly
armed with automatic weapons,” he said.
About 20,000 armed Ukrainian military servicemen were present in
Crimea during the referendum, Putin said. “There were 38 S-300 launch
systems alone there, as well as depots with weapons and trains with
ammunition. The people had to be guarded even from the possibility of
the use of weapons against civilians,” he said.
