Putin: All-out civil war in Ukraine, Odessa-style tragedy averted in Crimea

Published time: May 23, 2014 10:42

Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2014 (SPIEF 2014) in St. Petersburg May 23, 2014.(Reuters / Sergei Karpukhin)

Share on tumblr

Russia gave free will to the citizens of Crimea, otherwise the peninsula would have seen the same massacre that happened in Odessa on May 2, President Vladimir Putin said.
“If we haven’t done this, [in Crimea] we would have had more tragedies than those which we now see in some Ukrainian cities, for example, in Odessa, where unarmed people have been burned alive: Fifty people have been burned, other fifty went missing. Where are they? They are killed, too.”” Putin said at St. Petersburg Economic Forum.
Putin believes that after the February coup, Ukraine plunged into chaos.
“The civil coup supported by American and European partners came after. What next - chaos and now what we see is a full-scale civil war", added he.
Putin also said that Russia has a clear position on Crimea.
“We gave free will to Crimean citizens, they arrived at the referendum [March, 16] and voted for their own future,” he said.
Russian president said that “it is impossible to make almost 90 percent of the voters to come for the referendum."