Russia: annexed areas of Ukraine to get Moscow's 'full protection'
STORY: Russia's top diplomat on Sunday defended his nation's military operations in Ukraine, and said Russian-occupied parts of that country holding widely-criticized referendums would receive Russia's "full protection" if annexed by Moscow.
This was Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's response when asked if Russia would have grounds for using nuclear weapons to defend annexed regions of Ukraine.
“The entire territory of the Russian Federation, which is enshrined and could be further enshrined in the constitution of the Russian Federation, unquestionably is under the full protection of the state. That is absolutely natural, and all of the laws, doctrines, concepts and strategies of the Russian Federation apply to all of its territory.”
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special military operation", aimed at demilitarizing its neighbor and removing what it calls dangerous nationalists in Kyiv.
And residents in Russian-held parts of Ukraine cast ballots on Sunday on whether they wanted to join the Russian Federation, the third day of polling.
Ukraine and the West have called the votes a sham effort to illegally acquire territory conquered by Russia since the start of its invasion in February.
Kyiv and its Western allies fear that Moscow could portray attacks to retake them and reunify the country as an attack on Russia itself.
In Russian-occupied Mariupol, some voters see the referendum as necessary.
"We all need it to have peace here, to get rid of the evil who humiliated, killed, and destroyed us. The way they destroyed our city - I just don't have words. We need to knock out this evil to live at the liberated land."
The annexation efforts come after Russia face significant strategic setbacks on the battlefield.
Russian soldiers beat a hasty and humiliating retreat in the face of a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the northeastern part of the country, abandoning hardware and weapons as they fled.
Those losses may have prompted President Vladimir Putin to last week order Russia's first military mobilization since World War Two.
That move triggered protests across Russia and sent many men of military age fleeing.
The territory controlled by Russia or Russian-backed forces represents about 15% of Ukrainian territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was adamant on Saturday that his country would regain all the territory Russia had taken.
相關影片推薦
- 23:55地震搖不停 台積電員工聽到公務機鈴聲《台積心靈捕手》響起 半夜也要去 熊本廠日本員工只走SOP 台人扛重擔|鏡轉全球鏡新聞70,160 次觀看・19 小時前
- 接行政院秘書長一職 龔明鑫曝徵詢過程 台灣未來二十年發展仍樂觀!「下階段是數位、淨零轉型」【齊有此理】齊有此理85,222 次觀看・2 天前
- 3:31追不到砍她176刀致命 王鴻偉拖15年未槍決華視影音334,646 次觀看・3 天前
- 1:54謝金燕登中國綜藝 經典歌曲「姐姐」征服全場|#鏡新聞鏡新聞153,433 次觀看・3 天前
- 1:51金三角商圈變空城! 富凱大飯店旁上百家店被迫停業東森新聞影音5,323 次觀看・19 小時前
- 1:30嗆中駐美大使「雙手沾血」! 哈佛學生遭起底是台灣人|#鏡新聞鏡新聞189,895 次觀看・1 天前
- 1:45地震3棟倒塌大樓都在"米崙斷層"上 專家:只是巧合民視影音7,541 次觀看・22 小時前
- 3:10王彩樺哭著「求饒放過小燕姐 孟耿如」 怒轟黃子佼牽連周遭所有人娛樂星聞27,617 次觀看・18 小時前
- 2:07餘震不斷!東華宿舍寢室天花板砸落 學生急撤離華視影音5,577 次觀看・20 小時前
- 1:56南拳媽媽觸摸抹香鯨被炎上 當地粉專"直接點名台灣人"民視影音16,816 次觀看・22 小時前
熱門必看
- 2:47唐綺陽運勢 / 本週星座運勢:4/22~4/28一周星象預報!適逢節氣交替,多注意身體健康!唐綺陽談星室45,808 次觀看・5 天前
- 8:18精華|12星座女孩的專屬療傷情歌!天秤連分手都要很美!?唐綺陽談星室28,449 次觀看・6 天前
- 0:25香菜控一定要來!這個香腸直接大加分板橋Edenx食旅4,975 次觀看・1 天前
- 23:232024北海道巴士旅✨阿寒湖、釧路夢幻雪景不自駕也能去|幣舞橋、釧路和商市場、勝手丼、釧路濕原、阿寒湖、鶴見台、釧路漁人碼頭MOO、北海道壽司|北海道道東・Japan 4K vlog吉田社長交朋友4,275 次觀看・2 天前
- 14:01邱宇辰、黃宏軒演出腐女心中的幻想!超禁忌兄弟戀讓唐老師興奮到模糊!?Ep.215-1唐綺陽談星室40,032 次觀看・2 天前