MOSCOW, Mar 27 Ukrainian political scientist Mikhail Pogrebinsky said that he had been searched and denied the information about his detention. Earlier, the media reported on the searches and detention of Pogrebinsky by the Security Service of Ukraine, allegedly on suspicion of treason. Rumors about my detention are just a provocation,» Strana.ua quoted Pogrebinsky as saying. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops. With the support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive. But the occupation of Ukraine is out of the question, the President of Russia emphasized.
