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Russia Vladimir Putin Threatens Ukraine: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday (22 December 2024) threatened Ukraine with more “devastation” in response to a drone attack on the central Russian city of Kazan. Russia accused Ukraine of a “massive” drone attack that targeted a luxury apartment block in Kazan, about a thousand kilometers (620 miles) from the border.
Viral videos on Russian social media networks showed the drone hitting a high-rise glass building and creating fireballs, although no casualties were reported in the attack. “Whoever, and however much they try to destroy, they themselves will face many times more devastation and will regret what they are trying to do in our country,” Putin said during a government meeting on Sunday.
Kazan attack and Ukraine’s silence
Putin was making this statement at a road-opening ceremony via a video link with the local leader of Tatarstan. The attack on Kazan is the latest in a series of escalating air strikes in the nearly three-year-old conflict. Ukraine has yet to comment on the attack.
Putin has previously threatened to hit the centre of Kiev with hypersonic ballistic missiles in response to Ukrainian attacks. And the defence ministry has portrayed Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities in recent weeks as retaliation for Kiev targeting Russian air bases and weapons factories with Western-supplied missiles.
Russia’s latest wartime advances
The latest threat comes as Russia has claimed fresh successes on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine. The defence ministry said on Telegram that its forces had “liberated” the village of Lozova and the village of Krasnoe (called Sontsivka in Ukraine) in the north-east of the Kharkiv region.
The village is located near the processing centre of Kurekhovo, which Russia has virtually encircled and could become a key target in Moscow’s bid to fully seize the Donetsk region. Russia has accelerated its advances in eastern Ukraine over the past few months in a bid to capture as much territory as possible before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
Ukraine conflict and Russia’s claims
Russia’s military claims to have seized more than 190 Ukrainian settlements this year, while Kiev’s forces are struggling on the battlefield due to a lack of manpower and ammunition.
