On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and on February 24, Russia launched a special military operation to demilitarize Ukraine. In response, Western countries began a new round of sanctions.
The Russian authorities said that they had prepared an action plan in advance in case of a new wave of sanctions and would provide any necessary support to the business that had fallen under restrictions. In addition, Russian people in masses supported the President’s decision. In support of the operation also spoke public figures and various communities.
Russian grandmaster Sergey Karyakin supported the actions of Putin to conduct a special operation in Ukraine, RIA Sport reports. Karyakin himself was born in Simferopol, Crimea, and in 2009 he was admitted to the citizenship of the Russian Federation. He is famous for having entered the Guinness Book of Records at the age of 12 years and 211 days when he became the youngest grandmaster in the world’s history.
“Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, I am addressing you at this difficult time when our country, led by you, is fighting for the safety of the peaceful Russian population of Donbass […]. It is fighting for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine with its ruling regime, which has put the security of the whole of Europe and our country at risk, in favour of its political goals and ambitions,” Karyakin said.
He noted that for 8 long years, “we have been waiting with hope for salvation from countless shelling and loss of human lives, incessant genocide by the Kiev regime, which is still in force.”
“I express my full support to you, our Commander-in-Chief, in protecting the interests of Russia, our multinational Russian people, eliminating threats and establishing peace!”
Russian muftis from different regions also supported the operation in Ukraine. The Supreme Mufti of the Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia Talgat Tadzhuddin said that the special operation in Ukraine is a forced measure, Lenta reports.
“The military special operation in Ukraine is a forced measure. This is our fraternal republic, with which we have lived together for centuries. No one is happy about the war, because our peoples have already seen how terrible it is. The story is passed down from generation to generation. We have seen for 8 years how the leadership of Ukraine and the Western world tried to arrange genocide and revive fascism. Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken about this at all conferences and meetings,” Tajuddin said.
The Union of National Creative Collectives of Russia made an appeal to cultural figures, in which it declared the inadmissibility of Western pressure on representatives of the Russian creative elite against the background of the Ukrainian crisis and the need to unite in the interests of Russia.
“Against the backdrop of unprecedented pressure on our homeland, large-scale unfair sanctions and economic restrictions, we see insane demands for our artists to publicly condemn Russia’s actions, we observe how concerts of our legendary musicians are cancelled in the so-called progressive West,” the message says.
Representatives of national collectives recalled that “culture all over the world and at all times has always been outside politics.”
“And today we must remember that we have a genetic code – we are the descendants of the victors and liberators of Europe from fascism. We fully support the recognition of the DPR and the LPR, which put an end to the real genocide. We call on all cultural figures of Russia to unite and present a united front in support of the actions of our President to ensure the security of our great Motherland at this difficult time,” the authors of the appeal said.
In turn, more than a hundred historical and local history museums in their appeal called the forced decision of Putin to conduct a special operation in Ukraine “the only right one,” TASS reported.
“All those who now refuse to recognize the right of Donbass residents to be free and live freely – the right to their national identity, should remember the history of the spread and consequences of Nazi ideology, the indisputable evidence of the nightmares of which have been carefully collected in our funds for years,” the press service of the Victory Museum stated.
Russian writers supported the operation in Ukraine, Kurgan local newspaper writes:
"The special military operation currently taking place in Donbass and some parts of Ukraine has been brewing for a long time. The West has not given up trying to hurt Russia in one way or another, denigrate it and eventually dismember it [...] Our desire for dialogue and Russia's concern about security issues were not heeded [...] Pitting the Slavs against each other is unacceptable. We Russians don't want to pit anyone against anyone! The Russians don't start a war. Russians usually finish it. Russia's special military operation is aimed at establishing peace in Europe. And what would have happened if the military operation had not begun? Bandera's people would have continued their cannibalistic marches in Kiev, killed Ukrainian journalists, and Russian language teachers would have been in prison, the atrocities of those who burned people alive in Odessa, adopting the tactics of the Nazis, would have remained unpunished, a dirty Bandera atomic bomb would have hung over Russia! And what do we want? We want Ukraine to be sovereign and friendly, prosperous and free. But we don't want it to be ruled by Nazis."
The Russian Association of Heroes supported the decision of Putin to launch a military operation in Ukraine too, URA reports. The Association of Heroes is an all-Russian public organization uniting Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation and full holders of the Order of Glory living in 53 constituent entities of Russia.
“The Russian Association of Heroes supports a peacekeeping operation aimed at ending the genocide of civilians and preventing an attack on Russia. This is Russia’s self-defence and the protection of its allies. 30 years of unscrupulous deception of Russia by the West are over,” their message says.
The head of Arkhangelsk Dmitry Morev supported the conduct of the Russian military operation in Ukraine and said that the false mining of Arkhangelsk schools, which have been reported in recent days, was done under the leadership of the Security Service of Ukraine, the local website reported.
“A state in which most people are afraid to speak their native Russian in unfamiliar companies, where private nationalist battalions are openly operating, and the country’s leadership is changing as a result of military coups, always poses a danger – for its own people and surrounding neighbours,” he said.
Russian cultural figures, in particular People’s Artist of Russia, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for the Development of Civil Society Nikolai Burlyaev, supported Vladimir Putin’s position on the issue with Ukraine, noting in his address to the President that Russia is peaceful and has never been the instigator of wars, RIA Novosti reported.
“For eight years we have watched with pain how nationalists and fascists, who have taken the people of our sister Ukraine hostage, are killing our brothers and sisters in Kiev, Odessa, Donetsk and Lugansk republics […] The unity of our peoples must have a lasting future […] The leadership of the Russian Federation has made the only right decision, unanimously supported by the State Duma, the Federation Council and the majority of our people,” the statement says.
Moreover, hundreds of employees of the company Sima-Land (Internet store) in black hoodies of the Putin Team danced in the main hall of the company. At the beginning of the video, the letter Z is shown, which is the unofficial symbol of the Russian military. This flash mob was supported by the famous Russian musician Vadim Samoylov.
Support from abroad
Besides, RIA Novosti published the reaction of the countries of the world that supported the Russian military operation, RealnoeVremya reports. Here is the full list:
- Belarus fully supported Russia. Negotiations between the Russian Federation and Ukraine have been organized on the territory of the country.
- Chinese leader Xi Jinping told Putin that he respects Moscow’s actions.
- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro fully supported the decision on the special operation and called for a diplomatic solution.
- Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov, during a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin, supported the actions of the Russian Federation to protect Donbass.
- The United States tried to pass an anti-Russian resolution through the UN Security Council, but it was blocked, India, China, and the UAE abstained from voting.
- Brazil does not condemn Russia for launching a military special operation in Ukraine, President Jair Bolsonaro said.
- The official representative of the Myanmar military authorities, General Zaw Min Tun, supported Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. In his opinion, Russia thus “ensures the balance of world powers.”
- Syria supports Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, said the special adviser to the President of Syria Luna Shibl.
- The head of Bashkiria, Radiy Khabirov, announced support for Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine too.
Also, the military operation was supported by the Iraq people:
by Lebanese:
by the Irish Republican Socialist Party:
by Serbs:
by Brazilians:
and in Yerevan:
Russian celebrities stood up for Donbass
Besides, a Russian famous journalist and TV host, Tina Kandelaki, spoke in support of Donbass people.
Also, a Russian opera singer, Nikolay Baskov, published a supportive post on Instagram calling to stop the war in Donbass and explaining that Putin’s operation is aimed at this. Instagram expectedly blocked the content marking it as false information, putting as false the sentence “Russia doesn’t start wars, Russia ends them.”
View this post on Instagram
“Masks are removed. What an interesting and amazing time. The aggravation of Russophobia has begun in the world – look how some people are shaking, it’s even a pity, there are so many complexes…. and even more surprising is how Russophobia can escalate inside Russia. This is a more serious thing than the coronavirus.
If you are a Russian and you are a patriot, say so. Yes, to be a Russian is now to be objectionable somewhere. Nevertheless, if you live in Russia, say your word honestly and keep it. It is clear that they want to break us, but in response, we only need to unite!”
Public opinion
Finally, speaking in general about the reaction of the Russian population to the recent events, it turned out that 68 per cent of Russians support the military special operation in Ukraine, which follows from the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Centre study results published by Vedomosti.
“The successful completion of the operation should lead to some increase in support for the authorities, especially the head of state,” added the Director-General of the Agency for Political and Economic Communications Dmitry Orlov.
It also should be reminded that the recognition of the two republics of Donbass was highly supported all around Russia.
“If the heavenly host should beg me,
“Come to live in heaven above!”
I shall say, “Don’t give me heaven
But the Russia that I love.”
Ru-Main, 03.03.2022
