Russia Vows to Intensify Strikes on Ukraine After Zelenskiy Pledges More Attacks on Oil Refineries
Moscow said it will step up attacks on Kyiv and other regions after Ukraine's president told Reuters that Kyiv would double down on strikes against Russian oil refineries, as both sides brace for a winter campaign fought over bridges, power grids and fuel.
Russia will intensify its strikes on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Sunday, responding to an interview in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed to step up attacks on Russian oil refineries as winter approaches.
The ministry said Russian forces would step up attacks on military facilities, defense industry sites and related infrastructure in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine. The warning came a day after Reuters published an interview in which Zelenskiy said Ukraine would “double down” on attacking Russian oil refineries in response to what he described as a new Moscow policy of airstrikes designed to force people to abandon Kyiv and other cities, while insisting that Ukraine would not target civilians.
“We saw documents and we know that they allow them to attack infrastructure, logistics, and especially to attack in the cities, in the villages, everywhere, roads, schools, hospitals,” Zelenskiy told Reuters, saying Ukrainian intelligence had obtained documents outlining broader Russian targeting. “To pressure people to leave the capital, leave different cities: this is the goal of the operation.”
Bridges, blackouts and a capital under strain
The threat follows weeks of escalating Russian strikes on infrastructure in the Ukrainian capital, including bridges across the Dnipro River. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the Northern Bridge was hit during a recent air attack, damaging its road surface and overhead trolleybus cables and suspending traffic between the east and west banks of the river. A drone struck the Southern Bridge, which carries nearly 90 percent of transit traffic between the two banks, at around 5:40 p.m. on Saturday — the second attack on the structure in two days, according to The Independent’s live coverage.
The intensifying campaign has seriously disrupted life for the capital’s 3 million residents ahead of the bitter winter months, and Ukrainian officials warn that Russia has stockpiled hundreds of ballistic missiles for an expected onslaught against electricity and water infrastructure. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Moscow is producing an estimated 120 to 140 ballistic missiles a month, with some 600 already in stock, and that Ukraine urgently needs more air defenses — including at least 300 Patriot interceptor missiles — as well as 20mm cannon ammunition for the F-16 and MiG jets that Kyiv says are shooting down around 60 percent of Russia’s new jet-powered attack drones.
Competing claims, and a show of European support
The Russian Defence Ministry said its recent strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions were a response to what it described as attacks by Kyiv on civilian targets inside Russia, and the Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow would continue to systematically hit targets in retaliatory strikes. Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians.
The exchange came as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Sunday, arriving alongside the heads of German defense companies in a display of European backing. “I travelled to Kyiv today because Ukraine needs all our support in the coming weeks,” Merz said. “If Russia is not stopped, sooner or later its war machine will turn against us.”
Zelenskiy, for his part, said he had seen no indication that Russian President Vladimir Putin was interested in peace talks or in a ceasefire covering energy infrastructure — the very targets both sides are now threatening to hit harder in the weeks ahead.
Reporting based on coverage by Reuters and The Independent.
