Putin vows to ‘intensify’ attacks against Ukraine military targets
President Vladimir Putin has vowed to escalate assaults against Ukraine in the wake of ongoing aerial bombardments by both nations in the protracted conflict.
Speaking at a military hospital in Moscow, Putin declared that Russian forces would persist in targeting Ukrainian “military installations.”
He condemned a Ukrainian air raid on the Russian city of Belgorod as a “deliberate strike against civilians,” resulting in the loss of twenty-five lives, according to local authorities.
Addressing Russian servicemen on Monday, Putin asserted that the tide of the war was favoring Moscow, expressing a desire for a swift conclusion but strictly on Russia’s terms.
He attributed the prolonged conflict to Ukraine’s Western supporters, stating that their evolving rhetoric reflected a realization that they could not “destroy” Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky countered Putin’s assertions in an interview with The Economist, dismissing the notion that Russia was winning as a mere “feeling.”
Zelensky emphasized Russia’s casualty figures in Ukraine and pointed out the failure of opposing forces to capture a single major city in 2023. He expressed frustration with Kyiv’s Western allies, accusing them of losing a sense of urgency.
Both leaders delivered New Year messages, with Putin praising Russian soldiers as “heroes” without explicit reference to the Ukraine conflict. In his New Year address, Zelensky pledged a significant increase in the country’s weapon production, committing to build at least a million drones.
The recent days have witnessed deadly exchanges between Russia and Ukraine. On New Year’s Eve, Ukraine reportedly shelled the Russia-held Ukrainian city of Donetsk, causing casualties.
Ukrainian forces also launched strikes on targets in south-west Russia on Saturday, including the Belgorod incident termed a “terrorist attack” by Putin.
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Monday that the death toll had risen to 25 following the death of a young child who was seriously injured in the attack.
“Today, a 4-year-old girl died in a regional children’s hospital. She was in a highly serious condition with combined injuries to the chest and internal organs,” Mr Gladkov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
The girl’s death brought the number of child victims of the attack to five, the governor said. He added that 109 people were wounded in the air raid, with 45 currently in hospital.
Last week, Russia launched a widespread attack across several cities all across Ukraine, killing at least 45 people. Those strikes were described by Kyiv as Russia’s biggest missile bombardment of the war so far.
