Putin called shelling of peaceful cities by the Ukrainian Armed Forces bloody crimes. Putin stressed that Russia will not stop prisoner exchanges with Ukraine.
Also during his speech, the head of state spoke about the disaster with the Il-76 plane shot down in the Belgorod region. The Russian leader noted that with these attacks, the Ukrainian armed forces are pursuing several goals at once. “Although these are crimes, without any doubt. Bloody crimes,” Putin said. The attack was carried out to divert attention of their own population and sponsors from the failures of the so-called counteroffensive.