MOSCOW. Dec 20 (Interfax) - Russia will continue to provide humanitarian and other assistance to the population of Donbas, President Vladimir Putin said at his annual press conference on Thursday.
"It is true that we are providing humanitarian and other assistance to people who live in that territory. Solely in order to ensure that they're not definitively crushed, eaten, or torn to shreds. And we will continue to do so," Putin said.
It was Kyiv, not Russia, that blocked off Donbas from the rest of Ukraine, he said.
"They are firing at people whom they call their own citizens. People, civilians, are dying there every day," Putin said.