The head of state did not rule out a new mobilization and announced that he would continue bombing Ukraine’s energy infrastructure
Sergei KARPUKHIN / SPUTNIK / AFP
the russian leader, Wladimir PutinShe announced this Thursday, 8th, that the conflict in Ukraine can extend longer. “In view of the duration of the military special operation and its results, it will of course take a while, maybe,” he said at a meeting of the Russian Human Rights Council in the Kremlin and did not rule out a new mobilization, but sees no immediate need for action. Despite warning of the growing threat of nuclear war, as he is ready to fight with any means at his disposal, he added that he sees Russia’s nuclear arsenal as a deterrent, not a provocation. “As for the idea that Russia would under no circumstances use such weapons first, this means that it would also not be able to use them second, since the possibility of doing so in the event of an attack on our territory would be too much, “For defense, we look at weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons, everything is based on the socalled retaliatory attack,” he continued. “That means if we get hit, we attack in response.”
In his statement, he assured that his country would continue to bomb Ukrainian energy infrastructure in response to the attacks attributed to it Kyiv on the annexed peninsula of Crimea. Putin downplayed Western criticism of the bombings that left millions of Ukrainians without light and warmth in the dead of winter. “Yes, we bombed, but who started it?” Putin said at an awards ceremony for soldiers and other figures in the Kremlin. The Russian president blames Ukraine for the explosion that damaged the Crimean bridge in early October. He also accused the authorities of the former Soviet republic of “blasting the power lines of the Kursk nuclear power plant,” a Russian region bordering Ukraine, and having “no water supply” for the proRussian separatist stronghold of Donetsk (east).
*With information from AFP