Vladimir Putin vows retaliation for drone attack on Moscow
Russia’s president accused Ukraine of “terrorist activity” and “provoking us to respond with tit-for-tat measures” after strikes hit residential areas in the Russian capital early on Tuesday morning, which he said were aimed at “scaring Russian citizens and hitting residential buildings.”
Although Putin did not say how Moscow would respond and claimed Russia did not attack civilian targets in Ukraine, he made his first reference for several months to a possible nuclear escalation of the war, accusing Ukraine of trying to cause an accident at a nuclear power plant in occupied Zaporizhzhia or use a dirty bomb.
The drone strikes came as Russia launched another wave of aerial attacks on Kyiv, killing at least one person, hospitalising others and forcing the evacuation of a high-rise building — the fourth attack in three days on Ukraine’s capital. Such attacks have become a regular occurrence in Kyiv since Russia began targeting civilian infrastructure with mass air strikes last autumn. The assault on Tuesday was the 17th on the capital in May alone…
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Kyiv has embarked on a campaign aimed at stoking fear and undermining the Russian army ahead of an expected counteroffensive, according to Ukrainian officials.
