Russia Calls Its Invasion Of Ukraine A Special Military Operation, Not War: This Is Explanation Of Former President Medvedev

Dmitry Medvedev with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru)

JAKARTA - Russia has called its military action in Ukraine a special military operation since the invasion began on February 24, instead of calling it war.

Russia's actions in Ukraine are special operations, not war, because the targets of its forces are limited to military facilities and objects, said Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev.

“It was indeed a special military operation. Events there are enforced according to certain scenarios. The president said we have two goals to achieve. The first is to defend the people of the people's republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, many of whom are Russians, citizens and there are about a million of them," Medvedev explained in an interview with Al Jazeera television as reported by TASS on June 3.

'The second is to destroy the military mechanisms and de-Nazify areas, or, in other words, to ensure that there are no neo-Nazis promoting an anti-Russian, Russophobic agenda there. That is why the target of this operation is limited," he explained.

"The operations mostly involved the use of high-precision weapons. Military facilities were destroyed. Russian forces are trying to minimize the threat to civilian facilities. We are trying to act in a way that will only affect the Ukrainian armed forces. That is why the actions of our forces are called special military operations," Medvedev added.

In his words, the United States and its NATO allies declared "a so-called proxy war against Russia, which means supplying Ukraine with large amounts of weapons."

“They are trying to foster a militaristic atmosphere, militaristic hysteria, to make Ukraine fight with Russia 'until last Ukraine remains,' so to speak. For obvious reasons, neither the United States nor Europe is at a loss in this situation," he said.

"Six million people have left Ukraine, and those countries bear real responsibility for what has happened," Medvedev said.