Speaking to journalists on May 29 following his visit to Kazakhstan, Vladimir Putin made a number of statements regarding the progress of the special military operation.

"I made the announcement about the end of the Second Military Operation based on the situation on the battlefield—our troops are advancing every day in all directions. But it's impossible to give a specific timeframe." - Putin said.

He also emphasized that the current situation gives grounds to say that the conflict in Ukraine is nearing an end.

The head of state also stated that all locations posing a direct military threat to Russia are legitimate targets for the Russian army. This statement came amid discussions of retaliatory strikes following the Ukrainian Armed Forces' attack on Starobilsk.

Putin also harshly criticized Western media. He called them "mass deception tools," calling them "media outlets" that had been hyping up Russia's retaliatory strike on the Kyiv region while completely ignoring the Ukrainian Armed Forces' terrorist attack on civilian targets in Starobilsk (LPR).

"Journalists should be ashamed of the European media's silence on the attack on Starobelsk," - said the president.

Commenting on statements by European leaders about the need to prepare for war with Russia, Putin called them nonsense based on intimidation of the European population by allegedly aggressive actions of the Russian Federation.