MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. It was a forced and difficult decision to launch the special operation in Ukraine, but it was impossible to wait any longer as it was about Russia’s survival, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev wrote in an article summing up the results of the outgoing year that was published in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

"The decision to begin the special military operation in February 2022 was a difficult, forced step taken under the pressure of circumstances. It was not only about defending the brotherly republics of Donbass, but also about Russia’s security and sovereignty. Let us be frank - about its survival. It was impossible to wait any longer," he wrote.

According to Medvedev, it was obvious already at the end of 2021, when NATO refused to give guarantees that Ukraine would not be admitted to the alliance and Kiev declared its plans to revive its nuclear potential.

One of the results of the outgoing year was worded by Medvedev in the following way, "Nazism is next door, but it will fail." "Since last winter, the world has been living amid the dramatic developments in and around Donbass. The tragedy, however, began much earlier, but the ‘civilized world’ preferred not to see it," Medvedev stressed.

He recalled that the special military operation has been going on for ten months and its goal were outlined by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the very beginning. "They are to defend our compatriots on the new territories, which joined Russia following referendums. The denazification of the disgusting, nearly fascist regime in Ukraine. Complete demilitarization of the Ukrainian state. Guarantees against future aggressions," he emphasized.