Putin's people acknowledged that Russia annexed the occupied Donbass and does not want to withdraw troops from there

Ilia Shablinskiy, the member of the Russian Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, has acknowledged that Russia actually annexed and controls the occupied part of Donbass. He said this on the air of 60 Minutes talk show on Russia 1 Russian TV channel.

"These territories are controlled by our (Russian – OstroV) armed forces. The ruble is running, the territory is controlled by the Russian Federation, the government of these republics is carrying out the guidelines of our government. Donbass is being funded from the Russian budget", – Shablinskiy stated.

Presenters of the talk show tried to disavow his words with propaganda remarks that "control" of Russia is limited to humanitarian assistance to the occupied territories, but the guest of studio held his own.

"We actually took this piece of Donbass", – he repeated insistently, emphasizing the presence of Russian troops in the quasi-republics of Donbass.

"The Ukrainians say: "You did not withdraw your troops", our European partners say: "Yes, the troops are there - hundreds of tanks, hundreds of howitzers…" They say that the Russian party does not fulfill (the Minsk agreements - OstrovV),- he said.