Putin prevented humanitarian catastrophe, ensured security: Russian State Duma Speaker

By launching an all-out military operation in neighbouring Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has deterred a humanitarian catastrophe, as well as did "his best to ensure Russia’s security," speaker of the Russian State Duma [lower parliament house] Vyacheslav Volodin was quoted saying by state-affiliated agency Tass on Sunday. Putin, via his military intervention, has secured the national interest of the Russians and has also protected the population living in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics [DPR and LPR], the two breakaway Ukrainian territories that were declared independent by the Russian Duma earlier, he said in an interview that was aired on Duma TV channel.

"Something horrible might have happened but for his decision to begin the special military operation. He warned about what might have happened. Troops had been already pulled to the Donbass boundaries and the whole thing might have ended in a humanitarian catastrophe, might have entailed numerous casualties," said Moscow's speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. 

Battle raging in eastern Donbass for over eight years

Russian President Putin had signed a decree that formally recognized the independence of the Ukrainian breakaway regions Donetsk and Luhansk where the battle has been raging for over eight years between the pro-Russian separatists and Ukraine's armed forces. He also made a televised address to Russians informing them of the decision, as he accused Ukraine of committing genocide against the pro-Russian population in the contentious Donbass region in eastern Ukraine. 

"Today, the leadership of the DPR [Donetsk People's Republic] and LPR [Luhansk People's Republic] received appeals to recognize their sovereignty in connection with the military aggression of the Ukrainian authorities, massive shelling of the territory of Donbas, as a result of which the civilian population suffers. With all this in mind, the President of Russia said that he intended to sign a relevant decree in the near future," a statement issued by the Kremlin back in the month of February, attributed to Putin, read. 

Furthermore, as he launched a military invasion of Ukraine, the Russian leader iterated that the "purpose of this operation is to protect people who, for eight years now, have been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kyiv regime." He accused Zelenskyy's what he described as the pro-Western government of killing Russian-backed rebel separatists who have been fighting for their rights against the Ukrainian forces' atrocities since 2014, said Putin. Ukraine's Army, according to Putin has claimed the lives of 14,000 people in the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.