Kremlin says Russia is at war due to Western intervention on Ukrainian side -TASS

Russia regards itself to be in a state of war due to the West's intervention on Ukraine's side, the TASS news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Friday.

Peskov was also cited as saying that Moscow needed to fully "liberate" its "new regions" to ensure people's safety there, a reference to the four Ukrainian regions that Russia claimed to have annexed in 2022.

Kyiv says Russia's annexation was an illegal land grab and that it will not rest until every Russian soldier is ejected from its soil.