Putin was addressing the Brics summit via video-link in South Africa - he hasn't travelled due to risk of arrest.
While speaking to the Brics summit, Vladimir Putin once again set out his view of the events leading up to Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 - and ultimately its full-scale invasion of Ukraine eight years later.
The Russian president says that the overthrow of Kyiv's pro-Russian government in 2014 was instigated by the West. He describes those events, known as the Maidan Revolution, as aMore than 100 people died in the Maidan protests of 2013-14They began with quite small protests against the government after it refused a deal on closer ties with the EU. But the demonstrations grew into the hundreds of thousands because of popular outrage at police brutality.
From discontent over a single policy, it became a genuine popular movement - a broad protest against a regime seen as authoritarian and corrupt. Pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia after the revolution, continued to enjoy popular support in eastern parts of the country, at least while he was in office.
But for much of the country he was a figure of hate - probably more disliked for his lavish lifestyle and corrupt politics than for his pro-Russian stance.
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