“I have said more than once that we did not stage a coup in Kyiv in 2014. A coup d’état that was bloody and unconstitutional,” the president said.

At the same time, Putin recalled that “it was not us who intimidated Crimea inhabitants with ethnic cleansing, nor did we try to force the Donbas into obedience by shelling, it was not us who threatened with repression those who wanted to speak their native language,” he added.

“Listen up, all of us here are informed people. Millions of people who perceive reality through the media can be deceived, but you do really know what happened there,” he asserted to those present at the event.

According to the Russian leader, the cities of Donbas were shelled for nine years, including with the use of tanks. “A war broke out, a natural war against Donbas.

And no one counted the children killed in Donbas. No one in other countries, especially in the West, cried for the deceased,” Putin summed up.

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