Goals Of Russian Military ‘Are Clear And Noble, Says Putin

Vladimir Putin has insisted that his war campaign in Ukraine will continue until its “noble” goals have been achieved, arguing that the invasion was proceeding as planned despite fierce Ukrainian resistance and heavy losses among Russian forces.

- Pjotr Sauer

“We will achieve our objectives, there are no doubts,” Putin told workers at the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia’s far east, in his first public comments on were forced to retreat from northern Ukraine more than a week ago.

"Its goals are absolutely clear and noble,” Putin said of the country's military campaign while standing alongside his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, during a visit to mark the 61st anniversary of the first manned space flight, which was conducted by the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

It was only his second public appearance in a week, following a brief appearance at the funeral of the ultranationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, where he made no direct mention of the war.

Putin's recent low profile has marked a stark change for a leader who was ubiquitous on Russian television in the early days of the war.

Speaking later at a televised news conference, he dismissed Ukrainian testimony that Russian troops had executed civilians in Bucha, comparing the killings to what he claimed were western staged chemical weapons attacks in Syria aimed at incriminating Russia's ally, Bashar al-Assad. “It's the same kind of fake in Bucha," Putin said.