MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. The Kiev authorities ‘went over the edge’ when they declared the Russians as non-indigenous nation in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said following the ceremony awarding Gold Star medals to Heroes of the Russian Federation.

Journalist of Russia’s Rossiya-1 TV Channel Pavel Zarubin posted a fragment of Putin’s statement on his Telegram channel.

"We would have never resorted to anything like this if they [the Ukrainian authorities] had not started destroying Russia on our historical territories, forcing people out of there, declaring Russians a non-indigenous nation," Putin said.