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The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Anton Vaino, Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin, and Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport Sergei Ivanov.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues.

As you know, today the presidential election started in our country in accordance with the Constitution of Russia.

To disrupt the election process and intimidate people, at least in the areas bordering Ukraine, the neo-Nazi Kiev regime has planned and is trying to carry out a number of demonstrative criminal armed actions. It is primarily striking civilian residential areas in Russian territory.

About 95 percent of the enemy missiles and shells are being destroyed by our air defence systems. Nevertheless, unfortunately, we still have civilian casualties. All of them, and their families, will be given every necessary support and assistance. These enemy strikes do not and will not go unpunished.

In addition, starting March 12 of this year and until now, our adversary has made several attempts to enter and gain a foothold on our territory, mostly by using special units, foreign mercenaries and support forces from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They have carried out several subversive terrorist attacks – four in the Belgorod direction and one in the Kursk direction – with the aim of entering Russian territory and gaining a foothold on it.

The enemy used the following forces and equipment: over 2,500 personnel, 35 tanks, and about 40 combat vehicles. It did not achieve success in a single direction. It was rebuffed and forced to retreat, or flee, to be more precise, with heavy losses. The adversary lost about 60 percent of its personnel and over 50 percent of its armoured vehicles.

As I said earlier, these militarily senseless and humanitarianly criminal actions were aimed at disrupting the elections for the President of Russia.

I am confident – our people, the people of Russia will respond to this with even greater cohesion. Who did they decide to scare? The Russian people? The multi-ethnic people of Russia? This has never happened and, I know, will never happen.

One more possible goal for these attacks is to sidetrack the attention of their own people and the people in other countries whom the Kiev regime is trying to beg, humiliatingly, for money or any kind of handout. The regime also wants to divert attention from the real state of affairs at the battle line where the Russian Armed Forces are confidently holding the initiative and showing courage and heroism, fulfilling their combat missions.

They are thereby creating the necessary, basic conditions for ensuring the security of Russia, the domestic political stability of our state and, eventually for reaching our national development goals, for the future of our Motherland, which will certainly be ensured despite any attempt by our enemies and ill-wishers.

I would like to ask the Defence Minister [Sergei Shoigu] to report on the current situation.

Go ahead please.

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