Putin says Gaza 'catastrophe' incomparable with Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is waging a war against Ukraine, said that the situation in Gaza is a “catastrophe” unfolding on a scale that cannot be compared to what is happening in Ukraine.

Putin, whose government has maintained ties with Hamas and Israel, gave the comments during a news conference in Moscow, as his full-scale military intervention against Kyiv approaches the two-year mark.

“Everybody here and around the world can see and look at the special military operation and at what is happening in Gaza and feel the difference,” he said, using the Kremlin’s name for its conflict in Ukraine.

“But there is nothing like this in Ukraine,” he added.

During his year-end press conference, the Russian President also revealed that a total of 617,000 Russian troops are currently fighting in Ukraine.

He added that some 244,000 of them are soldiers who were called up to fight alongside professional Russian military troops.

The war between Israel and Hamas — now in its third month — began after the October 7 attacks on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas, which Israeli officials say killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Meanwhile, Russia has since February 2022 systemically targeted Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones, and occupied large swathes of the south and east of the country following fierce hostilities.

With inputs from agencies