War in Ukraine: State Department calls on Putin to withdraw Russian troops

A message to Vladimir Putin to withdraw his troops from Ukraine was sent by USAfollowing his admission of “war” in the region, a word that is forbidden in Russia.

THE invasion of Ukraine officially called by the Kremlin a “special military operation”. Russian authorities have introduced a law that provides for heavy prison sentences for publishing any information about the Russian military deemed “false” and many people have been convicted after calling the invasion a “war”.

However, Putin used that word on Thursday, asserting that he wants the conflict in Ukraine to end “as soon as possible.”

“Since February 24, the US and the rest of the world knew that the special military operation was an unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine”a State Department spokesman said today. “Finally, after 300 days, Putin called the war by his name”he added. “As a next step in recognizing reality, we urge him to end the war by withdrawing his troops from Ukraine”.

“Russia’s attack on the sovereignty of its neighboring country caused death, destruction and population displacement”whatever terminology Putin uses, the spokesman continued.

A Russian councilor, Nikita Yuferev, announced on Thursday that he was taking Putin to court, accusing him of “spreading false information” for using the word “war” to describe operations in Ukraine. Yuferev’s appeal has no chance of being accepted by the judicial authorities, for the additional reason that it contains many errors, such as the date of Putin’s speech and even the name of the president himself, as he once spelled it as if it were female.