Russian President Vladimir Putin described in an interview published on Sunday the situation in Ukraine as a matter of life and death for his countrymen.
Speaking to journalist Pavel Zarubin, Putin stressed that, unlike that, the West sees the aforementioned conflict as an "improvement in their tactical position."
Putin, who blames Ukraine's leadership for allowing discrimination against the Russians who live in that country, recently expressed his regret that Moscow did not begin its campaign there sooner as "we believed we were dealing with decent people."