President Zelensky Issues Warning to Russia Amid Escalating Tensions

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has issued a strong warning to Russia, threatening to escalate attacks if Moscow repeats its strategy of bombarding Ukrainian power plants. This aggressive tactic employed by Russia last winter left millions of Ukrainians without power, heat, and water amidst freezing temperatures. Zelensky’s warning was made during an interview with the CBS News show “60 Minutes.”

With the war entering another winter, Ukraine has demonstrated its capability to reach deep inside Russia, and Zelensky has made it clear that Ukraine will not hesitate to enforce retaliatory measures. According to a transcript released by “60 Minutes,” Zelensky stated, “If you cut off our power, deprive us of electricity, deprive us of water, deprive us of gasoline, you need to know we have the right to do it too.”

Ukraine’s Response: Bold Threats and Increased Use of Attack Drones

In response to Russia’s attempts to weaponize the weather last winter, Ukraine now plans to adopt a similar strategy, utilizing attack drones to target key Russian infrastructure. In recent months, there has been a significant increase in the frequency of drone attacks against Russian targets.

These attacks have already caused damage to a crucial bridge connecting the Crimean Peninsula with Russia and have targeted Russian naval ships in the region. Furthermore, Ukrainian drones have penetrated deep inside Russian territory, reaching as far as the greater Moscow region. However, they have not caused significant damage in these areas.

It is worth noting that Ukraine officially does not acknowledge these attacks inside Russian territory, although President Zelensky and other top officials have expressed their intention to bring the war to ordinary Russians. In the “60 Minutes” interview, Zelensky remained somewhat ambiguous about the drone strikes, stating that Ukrainian drones have hit the Kremlin, warplanes, and Moscow high rises, but maintaining that he is not directly ordering these attacks.

Zelensky emphasized Ukraine’s right to respond to the places Russia uses to launch missiles against Ukraine. He stated, “But Russia needs to know that wherever it is, whichever place they use for launching missiles to strike Ukraine, Ukraine has every moral right to send a response to those places. We are responding to them saying: ‘Your sky is not as well protected as you think.'”

Show more