Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin. Archival photoMOSCOW, May 5. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, discussing the situation in Ukraine on the radio Komsomolskaya Pravda, said that everything must be done to make Ukraine a peaceful, democratic and sovereign state. now to complete the (special) operation, it is necessary to do everything to ensure that Ukraine becomes a peaceful democratic state, sovereign,” said the speaker of the State Duma. He answered the host’s question, within what borders would Ukraine become such a state. «It's up to Ukraine and its citizens to decide,» Volodin replied. 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 Kyiv 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 Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces strike only at the 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. Mariupol
