Zelensky: Ukraine will strike Russian refineries in response to Moscow’s “new doctrine” of attacks on cities

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukraine would double its strikes on Russian oil refineries, in response to what he called a “new” military doctrine of Russian President Vladimir Putin — an air-strike campaign which, according to Ukrainian intelligence, is designed to force residents to abandon Kyiv and other cities before winter.

“We saw documents and we know that they allow themselves to strike infrastructure… logistics… roads, schools, hospitals, in order to put pressure on people to leave the capital, to leave various cities,” Zelensky said, as the Reuters agency reports. “That is the aim of the operation.”

According to Zelensky, the Kremlin’s change of course comes from Putin’s desire to appear strong at a moment when the Russian army is losing ground in a key sector of the front and suffering increased losses. The Kremlin was not available for comment on Saturday, but Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced earlier the same day that Moscow would continue to strike “systematically” targets in Kyiv and other cities, in what it calls retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russia in recent months.

Ukraine will not respond to these attacks by striking civilian targets indiscriminately, but by striking Russia’s energy, Zelensky said. “We must respond in every way (we can). To their attacks on our energy, we must respond with attacks on their energy. First of all, the oil refineries: those that give them money for this war,” he said in English. “But we will not respond, of course, like them, by striking civilian targets.”

He also announced that the Ukrainian counter-offensive codenamed “Vivaldi” has liberated around 140 square kilometres in eastern Donbas — the region that Russia demands in full as a condition for any peace agreement.

On the diplomatic plane, Zelensky said that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has sought a revival of talks to end the conflict. Last month Trump had asked Ukraine to refrain from striking Russian oil installations, arguing that this was raising global oil prices. Zelensky said, however, that he has received no sign that Putin is interested in peace talks or in a ceasefire on energy infrastructure. After the Trump administration’s invitation to Putin to the G20 summit in Miami in December and talks on business deals with Russian envoys, Zelensky called on Washington not to normalise relations with Russia before a return of peace is secured: “It is not right simply to normalise,” he said. “Because peace is more important than any kind of economy.”

Zelensky also announced the first combat use this week of the domestically produced FP-7 ballistic missile, with a range of around 250 kilometres, and said he had asked the manufacturer Fire Point to speed up the longer-range FP-9 model, which according to the company could strike Moscow. He acknowledged that Ukraine is relying heavily on F-16 and MiG fighter jets to shoot down around 60 per cent of Russia’s jet-powered drones, but that 20 mm ammunition supplies for the jets are running out; Kyiv is developing five interceptor drone models and in the second half of October expects the first delivery of cheap air-defence missiles. Ukrainian officials warn that Russia has stockpiled hundreds of ballistic missiles ahead of the expected winter offensive against electricity and water infrastructure.