Moscow vows tougher strikes on Ukraine

Russia will intensify strikes on Kyiv and other regions of Ukraine following recent remarks by president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday. The remarks came as Moscow warned of a further escalation in the aerial war after Kyiv threatened to expand attacks on Russian oil refineries.

The ministry, cited by Russia's state-run TASS news agency, said that the Russian forces would step up attacks on military facilities, defence industry sites and related infrastructure in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine. The warning followed remarks by Zelenskiy to Reuters that Ukraine would "double down" on attacks against Russian oil refineries in response to what he described as a new Russian campaign targeting infrastructure across Ukrainian cities.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian intelligence had obtained documents indicating that Russian president Vladimir Putin had approved a broader range of targets ahead of the winter campaign. "We saw documents and we know that they allow them to attack infrastructure, logistics, and especially to attack in the cities, in the villages, everywhere, roads, schools, hospitals," Zelenskyy told Reuters. "To pressure people to leave the capital, leave different cities: this is the goal of the operation," he said.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine would respond by targeting Russian energy infrastructure but would not deliberately attack civilian facilities. "We have to respond in any way we can. With their attacks on our energy, we have to respond on their energy. First of all, oil refiners etc: what gives money to them for this war," he said. "But we will not respond, of course, just like them, on any civilian objects."

The latest warning came as attacks on energy, transport and communications infrastructure intensified. Russian drones and missiles have struck targets across Ukraine, while Kyiv has increasingly targeted Russia's oil industry, which it says helps finance Moscow's war effort. On Sunday, a fire broke out at an industrial site in Russia's Krasnodar region after falling drone debris struck the facility in the Temryuk district, regional authorities said. Three people were injured and taken for medical treatment.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Kyiv on Sunday in a show of support for Ukraine. Merz said Germany would continue backing Kyiv and warned of the wider consequences of Russia's war. "If Russia is not stopped, sooner or later its war machine will turn against us," Merz said. "You can continue to count on our help." Zelenskiy thanked Germany on X, saying the two countries would make "important agreements" to strengthen Ukraine's defences. "Russia must be stopped together," he wrote.