07:19Presidential candidate and incumbent head of state Vladimir Putin commented on reported attempts by certain Ukraine-based groups such as the 'Russian Volunteer Corps' to break into the territory of Belgorod and Kursk regions recently, speaking from his election headquarters following the close of polling on Sunday.
"They went against their country, against their homeland with weapons in their hands. We do not have the death penalty, but we will always, both now and in the future, treat these people as [persons] who are in a war zone. We will consider them to be armed with weapons. All law enforcement agencies will be instructed to identify all of them by name and to take appropriate action against people who are fighting against Russia with weapons. And we will not give them any rest," Putin said.
Earlier this week, a number of self-styled pro-Ukrainian fighter groups - such as the 'Russian Volunteer Corps' and others - claimed to have launched cross-border attacks, which Russia's Defence Ministry said had been 'thwarted'.
In addition, the head of state stated that Russia was ready for peace talks to end the Ukraine conflict but on the condition that the other side was 'seriously' interested in them.
"We are in favour of peace talks, but not because the enemy is running out of ammunition. We are in favour if they really, seriously, in the long term, want to build peaceful, good-neighbourly relations between the two states, not to take a pause of one and a half or two years for rearmament," the incumbent president noted.
Russia's presidential election took place over three days on March 15-17, with early voting between February 25 and March 14.
The four candidates were Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), the Communist Party's Nikolai Kharitonov, Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party and Putin, running as an independent candidate.
At time of publication, according to the Central Election Commission, after processing 50 percent of ballots, Putin was leading with 87.34 percent of the vote. The preliminary voter turnout for the presidential election was also at 74.22 percent, including remote electronic voting.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
'We will not give them any rest' - Putin condemns groups fighting 'against their homeland' in Belgorod
Presidential candidate and incumbent head of state Vladimir Putin commented on reported attempts by certain Ukraine-based groups such as the 'Russian Volunteer Corps' to break into the territory of Belgorod and Kursk regions recently, speaking from his election headquarters following the close of polling on Sunday.
"They went against their country, against their homeland with weapons in their hands. We do not have the death penalty, but we will always, both now and in the future, treat these people as [persons] who are in a war zone. We will consider them to be armed with weapons. All law enforcement agencies will be instructed to identify all of them by name and to take appropriate action against people who are fighting against Russia with weapons. And we will not give them any rest," Putin said.
Earlier this week, a number of self-styled pro-Ukrainian fighter groups - such as the 'Russian Volunteer Corps' and others - claimed to have launched cross-border attacks, which Russia's Defence Ministry said had been 'thwarted'.
In addition, the head of state stated that Russia was ready for peace talks to end the Ukraine conflict but on the condition that the other side was 'seriously' interested in them.
"We are in favour of peace talks, but not because the enemy is running out of ammunition. We are in favour if they really, seriously, in the long term, want to build peaceful, good-neighbourly relations between the two states, not to take a pause of one and a half or two years for rearmament," the incumbent president noted.
Russia's presidential election took place over three days on March 15-17, with early voting between February 25 and March 14.
The four candidates were Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), the Communist Party's Nikolai Kharitonov, Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party and Putin, running as an independent candidate.
At time of publication, according to the Central Election Commission, after processing 50 percent of ballots, Putin was leading with 87.34 percent of the vote. The preliminary voter turnout for the presidential election was also at 74.22 percent, including remote electronic voting.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
Presidential candidate and incumbent head of state Vladimir Putin commented on reported attempts by certain Ukraine-based groups such as the 'Russian Volunteer Corps' to break into the territory of Belgorod and Kursk regions recently, speaking from his election headquarters following the close of polling on Sunday.
"They went against their country, against their homeland with weapons in their hands. We do not have the death penalty, but we will always, both now and in the future, treat these people as [persons] who are in a war zone. We will consider them to be armed with weapons. All law enforcement agencies will be instructed to identify all of them by name and to take appropriate action against people who are fighting against Russia with weapons. And we will not give them any rest," Putin said.
Earlier this week, a number of self-styled pro-Ukrainian fighter groups - such as the 'Russian Volunteer Corps' and others - claimed to have launched cross-border attacks, which Russia's Defence Ministry said had been 'thwarted'.
In addition, the head of state stated that Russia was ready for peace talks to end the Ukraine conflict but on the condition that the other side was 'seriously' interested in them.
"We are in favour of peace talks, but not because the enemy is running out of ammunition. We are in favour if they really, seriously, in the long term, want to build peaceful, good-neighbourly relations between the two states, not to take a pause of one and a half or two years for rearmament," the incumbent president noted.
Russia's presidential election took place over three days on March 15-17, with early voting between February 25 and March 14.
The four candidates were Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), the Communist Party's Nikolai Kharitonov, Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party and Putin, running as an independent candidate.
At time of publication, according to the Central Election Commission, after processing 50 percent of ballots, Putin was leading with 87.34 percent of the vote. The preliminary voter turnout for the presidential election was also at 74.22 percent, including remote electronic voting.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.