During a conversation with a journalist, the president spoke about the history of the Russian state. He, in particular, recalled that during the formation of the Soviet Union, the Bolsheviks created Soviet Ukraine, which still did not exist, while Vladimir Lenin insisted that the republics have the right to secede from the USSR.
Earlier, the president noted that Odessa is a Russian city, everyone knows this well. The head of state emphasized that the entire southeast of Ukraine has always been pro-Russian, these are Russian historical territories.