Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday termed the war waded on Ukraine as a "heroic" mission by his country's army during a patriotic rally at a Moscow stadium.
Putin made the remarks at a rally held at Luzhniki Stadium here to celebrate the 8th anniversary of Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014.
As Putin prepared to take the stage, speakers praised him as fighting "Nazism" in Ukraine -- the pretext used by Moscow for staging its invasion, reported DW. According to the agency, People waved the Russian national flag and flags bearing the letter Z, a "pro-war symbol".
In a verbal attack at the rally, Putin termed opponents as "gnats'' trying to weaken the country at the behest of the West and spoke of the "necessary self-purification of society."
Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions, Donetsk and Luhansk as independent republics followed by the announcement of a "special military operation" to "demilitarize" and "denazify" Ukraine.
The Russian Defence Ministry said the special operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger.
The West however denies these claims by the Russians and in response, Western nations have imposed comprehensive sanctions on Moscow. In addition, they introduced sanctions on Belarus for supporting Russia's operation in Ukraine.
( With inputs from ANI )
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