The Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday vowed that it would intensify attacks on Ukrainian military sites and related infrastructure after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would double down on its attacks on Russian oil infrastructure.
“Following Zelensky’s statement today, the Russian Armed Forces will step up strikes on military and defense industry facilities, as well as related infrastructure,” the Russian Defense Ministry said, according to TASS.
The ministry also said that it launched “massive strikes” on Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions that it framed as a response to recent major Ukrainian drone attacks, including operations that disrupted the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum several months ago, and an attack that involved over 1,000 drones during Russia’s parliamentary election last month.
The ministry also accused Ukraine of targeting residential areas in Russia’s Belgorod region overnight, which it said killed and wounded civilians. On Saturday, heavy Russian strikes in Ukraine killed at least six civilians, according to Ukrainian officials, and included strikes on bridges in Kyiv.
Zelensky made the comments about the oil refinery attacks in a Reuters interview, where he also claimed that Ukraine had received intelligence that said Russia planned to increase attacks on civilian infrastructure with the goal of forcing Ukrainians to flee Kyiv and other major cities.
Ukraine has continued targeting Russia’s oil refineries despite President Trump calling for them to end, though the operations are known to rely on intelligence provided by the US, meaning that if Trump truly wanted them to stop, he would cut intelligence support.
