MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. Russia has enough scientific resources to manufacture vaccines amid the sanctions, Alexander Gorelov, deputy director of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology and a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said on Wednesday.

"I think we will be able to cope with this task. First of all, we have a scientific school, a scientific basis. We will not have to start from scratch," he said, adding that the sanction will not hinder the implementation of the Sanitary Shield project.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.

Following this step, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and several other countries announced sanctions against Russia individuals and legal entities.