According to the Kremlin, Russia considers itself to be in a state of war due to the intervention of the West on Ukraine’s side. The Kremlin expressed that it cannot allow a state to exist on its borders that has shown a willingness to use any means necessary to seize control of Crimea. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made these remarks to the Russian publication “Arguments and Facts,” marking some of his strongest statements yet on the situation in Ukraine.
Peskov’s comments came after a large-scale overnight Russian attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. He stated, “We are in a state of war. Yes, it started out as a special military operation, but once this group was formed, and the collective West became involved on the side of Ukraine, it became a war for us. I am convinced of that. And everyone should understand this, for their own internal motivation.”
Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have started to use the term “war” more frequently, despite previously avoiding it. Peskov also emphasized the need for Russia to fully “liberate” its “new regions” to ensure the safety of the people there, referring to the four Ukrainian regions that Russia claimed to have annexed in 2022.
However, Kyiv maintains that Russia’s annexation was an illegal land grab and asserts that it will not rest until every Russian soldier is removed from its soil. Ukraine is also determined to reclaim the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
Moscow, on the other hand, insists that Crimea is an integral part of Russia and that its status has been definitively settled. The Kremlin has heavily invested in Crimea and remains steadfast in its position on the region’s ownership.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
