Zelenskyy described the strike on Moscow as a response to the Russian attack on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra
He said this in comments to journalists.
According to him, during a meeting with journalists following the strike on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, he said that Ukraine was preparing a response, and ‘you will see that’.
“You can see that despite the three rings of air defence that Moscow has, we have said that we will get them. If Putin does not want to end this war, if he wants to continue it, we will not sit idly by; we will respond,” Zelenskyy said.
The Head of State added that at the G7 summit in France, all partners agreed that Ukraine “fully supports ending the war”, whilst Putin “is doing everything he can to avoid directly answering questions about a ceasefire and ending the war”.
“We do not want this war and never have — everyone knows this, and our partners know this. And we certainly do not want Ukraine to be ravaged by the enemy. But if Ukraine is to burn, so too will your Moscow. That is why we emphasise once again that it is time to end the aggression; it is time to end this war,” he said.
Against this backdrop, Zelenskyy called for the Americans and Europeans to step up pressure on Russia, particularly regarding sanctions against the energy sector, the ‘shadow fleet’, oil, gas, weapons and other areas, and he told the Russian people that “it is time to come to your senses and put pressure on your leader”.
“So that Russia realises there is no point in fighting. The main thing is for the Russian people to start realising that, quite frankly, it is just one man – Putin – who is waging this war, whilst the people are paying the price for everything,” said the president.
Attacks on Moscow: what we know
Dozens of drones attacked Moscow and the Moscow Region of the Russian Federation on the night of 18 June, targeting an oil refinery.
Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, reported that by morning around 200 drones had been shot down as they approached Moscow, though some had reached the oil refinery. RIA Novosti describes this as the most massive attack on the Russian capital in the last two years.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that the Moscow oil refinery had been hit, with at least five fire points on the site. According to preliminary geolocation data, a combined oil refining unit, secondary refining units and a tank farm are on fire.
Earlier, on the night of 16 June, Ukrainian drones had already attacked the Moscow Oil Refinery. According to the General Staff, the refinery is involved in supplying the Russian army, with a refining capacity of over 12 million tonnes of oil per year.
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