Ukraine will intensify its attacks on Russian refineries in response to Moscow’s new strategy, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Reuters. According to him, the strategy aims to force civilians to leave Kyiv and other major cities, while he assured that civilians would not be targeted.
Citing information from Ukrainian intelligence services, Mr Zelensky said Russia had expanded its strikes to infrastructure, supply networks, roads, schools and hospitals, with the aim, as he said, “to pressure citizens to leave the capital and other cities”.
The Ukrainian President attributed the change to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s effort to appear strong, at a time when, according to him, Russian forces are suffering heavy losses in Donbas.
The Kremlin was unavailable for comment, Reuters reported. Russia’s Foreign Ministry, however, urged foreign nationals to leave Kyiv ahead of new attacks, in retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory.
'Peace more important than economy'
“We have to respond,” Zelensky said. “To their attacks on our energy infrastructure, we have to respond with attacks on theirs. Primarily on their refineries: on whatever gives them money to wage this war.”
Referring to the first battlefield use of the Ukrainian-made FP-7 ballistic missile, with a range of approximately 250 kilometres, he said he had asked manufacturer Fire Point to accelerate the development of the longer-range FP-9, which, he said, could strike Moscow.
At the same time, Zelensky urged the United States not to normalise its relations with Russia before peace is secured in Ukraine. He also said he was willing to meet Putin for peace talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Miami in December.
“Peace is more important than the economy,” he stressed, noting that any restoration of Moscow’s economic and diplomatic relations with the West should, in his view, be linked to an end to Russian attacks.
Source: CNA
