Russian President Vladimir Putin jokingly admitted that he himself would have difficulty listening to an almost two-hour message to the Federal Assembly. He said this during a conversation with veterans of military operations on the occasion of Defender of the Fatherland Day, on Thursday, February 23.
“Here you said about the message. And you know, of course, it’s very hard to listen to everything. Almost two hours. I would have had a hard time listening to it all myself if I had to listen. It is easier to say than to listen,” Putin said.
The President recalled that the last words of the message were that the truth is on our side.
“I look, we have guys standing behind us, very young. The day before yesterday, when I delivered the message, the last words were that the truth is on our side. But when I look at the guys, I want to add: the future is definitely ours,” the head of state said.
Putin also noted that the sacred duty of the state is to take care of those who defend the country and informed that the Fund for Supporting Participants in a Special Military Operation (SVO) will be directly subordinate to the government.
Earlier, on February 21, the head of the Russian state, speaking with a message to the Federal Message, proposed the creation of a special state fund to help the families of the participants in the special operation to protect Donbass and the victims.
Its tasks will include the provision of targeted assistance, the provision of social, medical, psychological support, the solution of issues of sanatorium treatment and rehabilitation. Also, the fund will have to help in education, sports, employment, entrepreneurship, advanced training, and obtaining a new profession.
In turn, on February 22, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said that this fund should be created in an accelerated mode. He noted that Tatyana Golikova, Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Russia, would keep this situation under her control.
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special operation to protect the civilian population of Donbass. The decision was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian military.
