Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his “special military operation” – otherwise known as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – is “going according to plan”.
His claim comes despite many analysts suggesting the invasion has not gone to plan.
In a televised speech, he accused Ukrainian forces of taking “thousands of foreign citizens hostage” and using civilians as “human shields” – he provided no evidence for these claims.
He added that Russians and Ukrainians were “one people” and said he would “destroy this ‘anti-Russia’ created by the West”.
