United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres. File photoUN, Apr 18 UN Secretary General António Guterres has been trying to contact Russian President Vladimir Putin since the first day of the special military operation in Ukraine, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary General, said at a briefing. «The short answer is yes,» — said Dujarric, answering the relevant question. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24th. 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 Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and On March 25, they completed the main tasks of the first stage — they significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
