© Sputnik/Gavriil GrigorovOctober 10, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin holds an operational meeting with permanent members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation via videoconference.
The Russian president has confirmed the launch of a major operation against Ukrainian infrastructure in response to the Crimean Bridge attack
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that any further Ukrainian
"terrorist" assaults on Russian soil will be met with a significant military response. He was speaking after a wave of missiles struck Ukraine on Monday morning.
Putin confirmed that Russian troops carried out "massive strikes with long-range precision weapons on Ukrainian objects of energy, and military control and communications." The response came two days after an explosion damaged the strategic Crimean Bridge, for which officials in Kiev claimed responsibility.
"If there are further attempts to conduct terrorist attacks on our soil, Russia will respond firmly and on a scale corresponding to the threats created against Russia," Putin added.
Earlier in the day, multiple regions of Ukraine came under missile strikes, with at least 11 key infrastructure facilities damaged, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal. Putin stated that Russia was retaliating for a number of attempts to strike Russian infrastructure that have been attributed to Kiev.
Among other things, Ukraine has damaged high-voltage power lines that transmit electricity generated by the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, tried to sabotage the TurkStream natural gas pipeline, and was behind Saturday's explosion that damaged the Crimean Bridge, Putin stated.
"The Kiev regime has been using terrorist methods for a very long time," the Russian president said, citing targeted assassinations of public figures, the indiscriminate shelling of Donbass cities and of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant as examples of such actions.
"De facto, the Kiev regime has put itself on par with international terrorist groups, the most odious of them. Leaving such crimes without a response has become impossible," he stressed, before confirming that Russia had attacked Ukrainian infrastructure.
In addition to blaming Ukraine for the series of attacks on Russian infrastructure, Putin mentioned the disabling of
the Nord Stream undersea pipelines. He said that Russia was being barred by European nations from investigating the sabotage and reiterated that
"we all know well the ultimate beneficiary of that crime."Putin made the remarks as he chaired a meeting of Russia's National Security Council.
The sabotage of the power lines connected to the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant was reported in mid-August. According to Russia's security agency, the FSB, Ukrainian agents launched a series of attacks and took down six transmission towers, endangering power supply to the border Kursk Region and other parts of Russia.
The
attempt to destroy Russian energy infrastructure used to supply hydrocarbons to Türkiye and southern Europe was reported by the FSB last month. Unlike with the incidents in Kursk Region, the would-be saboteur was captured and evidence was collected that the suspect was doing the bidding of Ukraine, according to law enforcement.
Saturday's explosion on the Crimean Bridge, a key link between the peninsula and mainland Russia, killed several civilians and partially collapsed the portion of the bridge used by vehicles. Aleksandr Bastrykin, the head of the Russian Investigative Committee, reported to Putin on Sunday that Ukraine was behind the crime, with the Russian leader concurring that there was
"no doubt" about it.
Comment: Ukraine realised this morning that Russia's patience has reached its limits as a powerful attack paralyzed Ukraine today.
UPDATE: The Russian strikes
targeted at least 11 key infrastructure sites in 8 regions, interrupting or disabling water, power, and telecommunications.
The administration of Kiev Region urged people to charge their devices and stockpile water due to potential disruptions of utilities. Issues with water supply were reported in the cities of Lviv and Kharkov, and in Chernigov and Krivoy Rog Regions.
The capital itself, which is a separate administrative entity, shut down its metro system, as people rushed to the stations seeking shelter.
According to the Russian military, all intended targets were
destroyed:
Speaking at a regular briefing, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov noted that Russia had used high-precision and long-range weapons to hit objects on Ukrainian territory, including "military command facilities, communications and energy systems."
"The goal of the strike has been achieved. All designated objects have been hit," he noted.
His comments came hours after Russia struck multiple targets in Kiev, with the city's Mayor Vitaly Klitschko claiming that "critical infrastructure" had been affected. The attack also apparently hit Vladimirskaya Street, where the main office of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is based, according to Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the interior minister.
Apart from Kiev, several other Ukrainian cities were targeted, including Dnepr in east of the country, and Lviv in the west. Following the strikes, Ukrainian authorities reported blackouts in Lviv, Poltava, Sumy, Kharkov and Ternopol Regions, adding that in other parts of the country power supply had been partially disrupted.
Kiev reports at least 10 people were
killed in the strikes. (They claim to have shot down 43 out of 83 missiles.)
Comment: Ukraine realised this morning that Russia's patience has reached its limits as a powerful attack paralyzed Ukraine today.
UPDATE: The Russian strikes targeted at least 11 key infrastructure sites in 8 regions, interrupting or disabling water, power, and telecommunications. According to the Russian military, all intended targets were destroyed: Kiev reports at least 10 people were killed in the strikes. (They claim to have shot down 43 out of 83 missiles.)