Ukrainian President Volodymyr ZelenskyWASHINGTON, Feb 15Adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak said that one should treat Volodymyr Zelensky's statements about declaring February 16 as a day of unity «with irony». On Monday, Zelensky signed a decree declaring February 16 as a day of unity. The decree provides that on this day the flag of Ukraine will be raised at facilities in all settlements, and the anthem will be played at 10.00 local time. In addition, branding events will be held in foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine. According to Zelensky's decree, the day of unity is intended to strengthen «the consolidation of Ukrainian society, strengthen its resilience in the face of growing hybrid threats, information, propaganda, moral and psychological pressure on public consciousness.»
In Crimea, the Day of Unity announced by Zelensky was called a PR stunt. According to CNN, Zelensky's decision caused a shock. Podolyak, when asked by the TV channel how to relate to Zelensky's statements, replied: «Of course, with irony.» At the same time, CNN notes that the Ukrainian authorities “choose a strange time for sarcasm.” The plans attributed to Russia to escalate the situation around Ukraine in Moscow are categorically denied and constantly state that they are not threatening anyone, and all such statements are used as an excuse to deploy more military NATO equipment near Russian borders. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier, Russia does not create any pretexts for a conflict situation around Ukraine. According to him, Russia does not rule out that the hysteria around Ukraine, hyped by the West, is aimed at covering Kiev's line of sabotaging the Minsk agreements on Donbass. According to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, the information hysteria of the USA and NATO on Ukraine is generously framed by lies and fakes. Allegations that Russia is allegedly preparing provocations in Ukraine continue to come from the West, despite the return of Russian troops to their places of deployment after the exercises . Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday reported that «some of the exercises are coming to an end, some will be completed in the near future.» The Southern and Western military districts of the Russian Federation have begun returning troops to their places of deployment, Major General Igor Konashenkov, an official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, told reporters on Tuesday. Ukraine explained what Zelensky would do in a real «attack»
