Putin: Ukraine using its forces as 'cannon fodder'

Russia's president accuses Ukraine of using its forces as "cannon fodder" amid Moscow's ongoing special operation in the ex-Soviet republic, saying those who refuse to fight for Kiev face dire consequences.

Vladimir Putin leveled the accusation against, what he called, Kiev's "neo-Nazi regime" on Friday, while addressing mothers of Russian servicemen, Russia Today reported.

Russia started the special operation in its southern neighbor in February. It says it launched the operation in order to defend the pro-Russian population in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk against persecution by Kiev.

Back in 2014, the two republics broke away from Ukraine, refusing to recognize a Western-backed Ukrainian government there that had overthrown a democratically-elected Russia-friendly administration.

Ever since the beginning of the war, Kiev's allies, led by the United States and Britain, have been pumping Ukraine full of advanced weapons, a step that Russia says would only prolong the hostilities.

Putin said the operation was not aimed at the Ukrainian people, but rather against the Ukrainian regime and the foreign countries, which were using Ukraine as a proxy. "Those who supply Ukraine with weapons and fund the Kiev government have no consideration for Ukraine’s losses," the report said, citing the Russian head of state.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Putin said Ukraine would "execute" those who would defy Kiev's war orders.

Russia, therefore, is doing the right thing by staging the special operation in favor of Ukraine's pro-Russian population, he concluded.

MG