UNITED NATIONS, March 13. /TASS/. Western sanctions will only boost Russia’s self-reliance, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said.

"Russia will overcome this turbulence and develop more skills of self-reliance. And US and European companies will simply lose our market. So keep shooting at your own legs," he wrote on Twitter, commenting on US President Joe Biden’s remarks that Western sanctions were allegedly "crushing the Russian economy."

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, but aims to demilitarize and denazify the country. The Russian Defense Ministry said that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure, therefore there are no threats to the civilian population. Subsequently, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and some other countries announced sanctions against Russian companies and individuals.