With a grin, Putin warns Ukraine: the war can get more serious
- Putin says the attack is necessary to stop a Western plot to break up Russia.
- Russia has targeted Ukraine’s infrastructure and Putin said the attacks could worsen.
- Russia now occupies about a fifth of Ukraine.
Samarkand: President Vladimir Putin Friday waved off Ukraine’s counteroffensive with a smile but warned that Russia would respond with more force if its troops were put under more pressure.
Speaking after the summit. Shanghai Cooperation Organization In the Uzbek city of Samarkand, Putin presented the attack as a necessary step to stop what he said was a Western plot to break up Russia.
MoscowHe said that there was no rush in Ukraine. And his goals have not changed.
“Kyiv authorities announced that they have launched and are conducting an active countermeasure. Well, let’s see how it develops, how it ends,” Putin said with a smile.
It was his first public comment on the defeat of his forces in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region a week earlier, which sparked unusually strong public criticism. Russian army Commentator
Russia responded by targeting Ukraine’s infrastructure – including a storage dam and power supply – and Putin said the attacks could be worse.
“Recently, the Russian armed forces have delivered a couple of sensitive strikes. Let’s assume this is a warning. If the situation continues like this, the response will be more serious,” he said.
Putin also said that Russia is gradually taking control of new areas of Ukraine.
Asked if what he called a “special military operation” needed correction, he said: “The plan is not subject to adjustment.”
Putin said that the General Staff considers one thing as important and another thing as secondary, but the main task has not changed and is being implemented. “The main goal is the liberation of the entire region of Donbass.”
Donbas consists of two largely Russian-speaking provinces in eastern Ukraine – Luhansk, which is now fully controlled by Russia and Russian-backed separatist forces, and Donetsk, which they partially control.
However, Russia now controls about a fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea, the southern Zaporozhye and Kherson provinces, which it annexed in 2014 and considers part of Russia.