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Speaking at an awards ceremony at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East, Putin was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies that said Moscow had no other choice but to launch a military operation to protect Russia and that a clash with Ukraine's anti-Russian forces had been inevitable. "Its goals are absolutely clear and noble," Putin said of Russia's military campaign, according to Reuters.

Russia on Monday will reiterate its request for the U.N. Security Council to convene a meeting over what it called the "criminal provocations by Ukrainian servicemen and radicals" in the town of Bucha, a foreign ministry official said. The UN Security Council will hold a previously scheduled discussion on Ukraine on Tuesday and will not meet on Monday as requested by Russia, said Britain's mission to the United Nations, according to Reuters.

Putin said the main objective of Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine was to save people in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014.