Russian President Putin said on Wednesday that he has always respected the people and culture of Ukraine, which he invaded without provocation earlier this year.
"We always, and even today, hold great respect for the Ukrainian people, Ukrainian culture, language, literature, and so on," Putin said while speaking at an award ceremony for teachers.
According to a video of Putin's remarks shared by Ukraine World, he said that Russia couldn't allow what happened in Ukraine to happen to the Russian culture and language.
—UkraineWorld (@ukraine_world) October 5, 2022
Putin has always dismissed the country's right to exist. Putin baselessly claimed thatUkraine was not a real country, was created by the Soviet Union and had no right to statehood when justifying his invasion in February.
Many historians have rejected that assessment due to the fact that the Soviet Union was formed in 1922.
Parts ofUkraine were part of the Russian Empire. The chairman of the political Eurasia Group, a political risk consulting organization, told The New York Times in February that Putin's argument is not right.
The breadth and vehemence with which he pursued Ukrainians was remarkable.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Putin said Russia gave Ukraine the right to leave. The Ukrainian people voted in favor of independence in 1991. More than ninety percent of eligible voters voted in favor of independence.
As of September, the United Nations has confirmed more than 5000 deaths due to Russia's invasion ofUkraine. The numbers are thought to be much higher. About 9000 Ukrainian service members died during the war, according to Ukrainian officials.
The Kremlin has denied ever targeting anything other than military assets, despite the fact that Russian forces have killed civilians in residential areas in Ukraine. The UN concluded last month that Russian forces had committed war crimes.
The four regions of Ukraine that Putin claims are now part of Russia were dismissed as illegal and invalid by the west.
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