MOSCOW. March 22 (Interfax) - Russia's special military operation evolved into a real war after the West intervened on Ukraine's side, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
"We are in a state of war. Indeed, it all began as a special military operation, but as soon as that clique came together there and as soon as the collective West joined that on Ukraine's side, it's become a war for us. I am convinced of this. And everyone should understand this, for their internal mobilization," Peskov said in an interview published in the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper.
Russia has gained four new federal entities, "and our top priority now is to safeguard the people in those entities and liberate the territories of those entities, which are now de facto occupied by the Kiev regime," he said.
Asked later by journalists whether his words meant that the legal status of the special military operation had changed, Peskov replied, "After the collective West joined [the special military operation], this has effectively turned into a war for us. This isn't related to any legal changes. This is a special military operation de jure, but it has turned into a war for us de facto now that the collective West has raised the level of its direct involvement in the conflict more and more."