Monday morning's series of missile strikes targeting Ukrainian infrastructure was a response to Kyiv's long record of terrorist actions, including but not limited to Saturday's attack on the Crimean Bridge, Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated, according to Sputnik.
"It is obvious that Ukraine's special services were the masterminds, organizers and perpetrators of the terror attack [on the bridge]. The Kyiv regime has been using terrorist methods for a long time," Putin said, speaking at a meeting of the Russian Security Council.
"A number of terrorist attacks and attempts at similar crimes have been committed against the electrical power facilities and gas transportation infrastructure of our country, including attempts to detonate a section of the TurkStream gas transmission system. All of this has been proven by objective data, including the testimony of the detained perpetrators of these terrorist attacks themselves," Putin said.
He also recalled attempts by Ukraine's security services to target Russia's Kursk Nuclear Power Plant on three separate occasions, with the third attack damaging three high-voltage power lines going to the plant.
Kyiv's "terrorist methods" have also included the murders of public figures, journalists, and scientists, both in Russia and in Ukraine, plus the "terrorist attacks against the cities of the Donbass" over the past eight years, plus "acts of atomic terrorism" - in the form of artillery strikes against the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Putin said.
By its actions, Kyiv "put itself on a par with the most odious terrorist groups," and it was "simply impossible to leave such crimes unanswered," Putin said.
"This morning, at the proposal of the Ministry of Defense and according to a plan [formulated by] the Russian General Staff, massed strikes were carried out using high-precision, long-range air, sea and land-based weapons against energy, military command and communications facilities of Ukraine. If attempts to carry out terrorist attacks against our territory continue, Russia's responses will be tough and will correspond in scale to the level of threat posed to the Russian Federation," he said.
At the Security Council meeting, Putin also commented on the explosions targeting the Nord Stream pipelines, saying Russian representatives have not been allowed to investigate the suspected sabotage. "But we all know the ultimate beneficiary of this crime," Putin said.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Monday that all targets had been hit, and the goal of the strikes achieved.
"Today, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a mass strike using long-range precision weapons against the military command, communications and energy systems of Ukraine. The goal of the strikes was achieved. All designated targets were hit," Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a briefing.
Major cities across Ukraine reported attacks against infrastructure on Monday morning, with Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnepr, Odessa, Kryvyi Rih, Zhytomyr, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Konotop, Lviv, and other cities reporting explosions and blackouts. Authorities reported that at least eight people were killed and 24 injured in the strikes. Ukrainian media reported that the air alert had been canceled early on Monday afternoon.
ZZ/PR
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