MOSCOW, Jul 1 Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone said that he does not regret his attitude towards Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite attacks in the West for supporting the Russian leader. On Thursday, Ecclestone called Putin a first-class person for whom he is ready to «grab a bullet» and also criticized the policies of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. Following Ecclestone's comments, Formula 1 released a statement emphasizing that Ecclestone's words «are his personal opinion and stand in stark contrast to the current values of the sport.» Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has called for Ecclestone to be censored. I don’t know what he was thinking, but I hope he didn’t plan what actually happened. I would be surprised if that was the case, «Ecclestone is quoted by TalkTV. 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.
