Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave reasons why his country carried out the attack.
“It is justified to destroy Russian terrorists in their center, from where they launch their attacks, Russian military airfields, Russian logistics. Ukraine considers this useful for accelerating peace. Russia must be forced to make peace while Putin wants to continue this war,” he explained.
One hundred thousand Russian civilians have fled the Ukrainian offensive and the Russian President claims this has prompted an increase in the number of people signing up to volunteer.
“It seems that the enemy is trying to improve its negotiating position in the future. What kind of negotiations can we discuss with those who launch arbitrary attacks on civilians, civilian facilities and try to create threats to nuclear energy facilities? What can be discussed with them?”
Both the White House and the US State Department issued warnings to Moscow on Monday over Iran's use of munitions.
Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said, “We are prepared to respond swiftly and forcefully if Iran continues with the transfer of ballistic missiles, which we consider a dramatic escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Iranian officials have also consistently denied providing drones to Russia despite the clear evidence.”
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby had little comment Monday when asked whether Washington was concerned Ukraine would use U.S.-supplied weapons in an attack on Russia.
“We continue to talk to Ukraine about these operations. Let the Ukrainians explain what they're doing,” Kirby said.
Analysts say Ukraine's move came as a surprise and may be a tactic to dampen Moscow's fighting spirit in the war against Ukraine.
Charles Kupchan of the Council on Foreign Relations said, “I think the Ukrainians want to bring this war to Russian territory and say to the Russian people, you are not immune from this war. You are going to feel it day in and day out.”
Analysts who are still waiting for Putin's next response say Putin will likely use the latest Ukrainian attack as a pretext to attack a NATO member country that borders Russia.
Leon Aron of the American Enterprise Institute said, “Putin now has evidence that Ukraine, armed by the West, and Putin’s claim that the West trained and incited Ukraine, is now attacking Russia. That’s Putin’s explanation to the Russian public about how this happened and he himself did nothing about it. So yes, I think the days ahead are very dangerous.”
A threat that the residents of Kursk have really felt in recent days. (jm/lt)
