"The roots of Russian statehood, they are of course much deeper. But I only gave the most famous theory, Norman origin, and I think it was not easy for Western listeners and viewers. Especially for Americans. The history of the United States is 300-plus years old, and I started from 862," Putin said.

"I can assume that it is connected with the desire of many people both in our country and the world to get an alternative point of view and to learn the truth," Putin said.

"At the moment, the minister of defense and the chief of the General Staff are reporting to the president that our units are developing an offensive, preventing the enemy from gaining a foothold on new frontiers," Kremlin spokesperson said.

"They staged their demonstration right outside the administrative buildings, and then marched through the central streets of the capital of Tennessee. They had ‘2218’ written on their backs — apparently the alphanumeric code of the neo-Nazi chant 'Bring back Adolf Hitler,'" Zakharova wrote in her Telegram channel.

"But resistance to this evil [neo-Nazism] is punishable, according to American freedom, as a violation of it," she added.

“And this, in fact, is the last defensive belt Ukraine’s military has in the context of fortified defenses. That is, our troops are already approaching these areas, and beyond that is territory that’s less heavily fortified.” The closer Russian forces approach to these areas, the more desperate fighting will become, Konovalov said.