MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. /TASS/. The Russian people are second to none when they are cohesive and united, President Vladimir Putin told Pavel Zarubin’s "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program on Rossiya-1 TV channel on Sunday.
Asked about the result of the year since the onset of the special military operation, the president said: "The unity of our people".
"This is not a figure of speech, we all are very well aware of that: when the Russian people are cohesive, united, they are second to none, and it is the fundamental premise of all our achievements," he added.
On February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, (the DPR and LPR, respectively). Russia signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with their leaders. Moscow recognized the Donbass republics in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions as of the beginning of 2014.
President Putin announced on February 24, 2022, that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics for assistance, he had decided to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The DPR and the LPR launched an operation to liberate their territories under Kiev’s control.