Putin vows to continue fighting Ukraine until his country emerges as winner

Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged on Tuesday that the invasion of Ukraine will continue until his country emerges as the victor.

Putin said at a press conference that the war in Ukraine is a tragedy, but Putin said Russia had no choice but to defend Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine. He claimed that the special military operations would prevent Ukraine and its former Soviet neighbors from becoming an anti-Russian springboard for the enemies of Russia. Putin also repeated past claims that Ukraine's government had neo-Nazi roots.

Our task is to achieve all the goals set, minimizing losses. Putin said during the news conference that we will act rhythmically, calmly, according to the plan originally proposed by the General Staff.

The war in Ukraine has been going on for a seventh week. Russia lost an estimated 7,000 to 15,000 troops in the fight, a senior NATO military official said. Putin said he has no doubts that the operation will achieve its goals despite the losses.

Its goals are clear and noble. Putin said that there is no doubt that the goals will be achieved.

The Russian president said that peace talks with Ukraine had hit a dead end. According to RT, Ukraine backed down two of his demands: the recognition of Crimea as a Russian state and the recognition of the eastern Donbas region as an independent state.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he remains open to peace talks with Putin in the future, despite the fact that he was talking about it on CBS 60 Minutes on Sunday. He noted that he could not accept Crimea as Russian territory.

Putin's news conference came a day after it was reported that he purged 150 FSB officers belonging to the Fifth Service for giving false information about the situation in Ukraine prior to the invasion. The head of the service was also imprisoned over the botched invasion.

According to reports, Sergei Beseda, the former head of the Fifth Service, was taken into the Lefortovo prison in Moscow. The prison is known for being used as an interrogation and torture site during the Great Terror, a brutal political campaign led by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.