MOSCOW, 24 Aug - RIA Novosti. Russia is the only country that has managed to eliminate terrorist formations, otherwise the current horrors in Afghanistan could have been in the Russian Federation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the second stage of the United Russia congress.
"Russia is practically the only country that was able to defeat large terrorist groups, eliminate the bandit underground. Many thanks to those guys who did this, often for their own valuable life," Putin said.
The President recalled that the USSR had its own experience of being in Afghanistan, and also noted that Russia has effective opportunities to ensure security and reliably protect citizens and the country from terrorism.
"Let me remind you... In the North Caucasus, there were actually fighting with large gangs of international terrorists, and if we had not defeated them, we would not have given them a united rebuff, if the residents of Dagestan, Chechnya and other republics had not risen up to fight this evil, the horrors that are happening today in Afghanistan would have continued on our land," the president noted.
