Lugansk. Archival photoLUGANSK, June 12 The flag of the Russian Federation was raised in the center of Luhansk on Russia Day, RIA Novosti correspondent reports. Happy holiday and separately thanked the Russian military for their help in the liberation of the republic. «The inhabitants of Donbass for many centuries feel and feel part of the great Russian world,» Pasechnik said. 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 abuse and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» To this end, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine» bloody crimes against civilians» of Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and, as of March 25, they have completed the main tasks of the first stage — they have significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
