Russian President Vladimir Putin on Rossiya 1 TV channel said that those who financed terrorism and separatism in the North Caucasus 20 years ago from abroad had every chance of realizing the vile plan for the collapse of the country from the inside.
An interview with Putin, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the defeat of terrorists in the North Caucasus, was recorded in September 2019 in the Dagestan village of Botlikh, but it was shown for the first time.
He answered the question of what purpose the support of terrorism and separatism in Russia from abroad pursued.
“Divide, and then rule. This means that those who want to divide us want to rule over us … Then they had every chance to implement this vile plan, let’s just say that, ”RIA Novosti quotes the president.
He also said that the number one task at that time was to maintain the integrity of the Russian state.
The president added that, “if we could not keep the country, we would have a very sad future, people would suffer from it.”
On September 12, 2019, Putin met in Dagestan with members of the people’s militia who took part in battles in the republic in August – September 1999.