Zelenskyy instructs Armed Forces to strike preemptively at facilities Russia uses to scale up war
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has issued an official instruction to the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine to act preemptively and strike Russian facilities used by the Kremlin to wage and scale up the war against Ukraine.
He wrote this on social media, Censor.NET informs.
Russia means stolen lands, but we are knocking out the source of the war
Zelenskyy stressed that historically Russia is built on aggressive principles, while Ukraine is waging an exclusively just war of liberation.
"Russia is not occupying foreign lands for the first time: the Russian state consists of many subjugated peoples, of stolen lands. We are fighting for our land. We are fighting for our people. We are fighting for justice for Ukraine. I instructed our intelligence and army to act preemptively against the facilities that Russians use to scale up the war," the president said.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, successful attacks by the Defense Forces have forced the Russian leadership to make unprecedented decisions. To protect Putin personally and key facilities of the regime, Russia is massively withdrawing air defense from the regions:
- Moscow region: hundreds of launchers of S-400, S-500 systems, and Pantsir anti-aircraft systems have already been pulled there.
- Valdai: almost 90 air defense launchers have been moved there from other parts of Russia; moreover, a special air defense division is still being formed there to protect Putin’s residence.
- Crimean direction: additional air defense forces are being pulled toward the illegal bridge across the Kerch Strait.
At the same time, only a few launchers remain in all other directions and in the rest of Russian cities. According to Zelenskyy, such priorities clearly demonstrate that the Kremlin is protecting only its own power, which is the source of this war.
Fuel shortage and fear of elections in Russia
The consequences of systematic strikes on Russia’s oil refining infrastructure have already become tangible for the Russian economy. An acute fuel shortage has now been recorded in more than 60 Russian regions, as well as a sharp rise in prices for gasoline and diesel fuel, if they are available at gas stations at all, Zelenskyy noted.
"Russian special services are already even proposing to postpone or completely cancel the ritual of electing United Russia to the State Duma: their latest imitation of elections was scheduled for September, and now we see from intelligence reports that Russia is not confident about the processes in September. There are many difficulties, and only because Putin refuses to end his war and does not hear our proposals for a meeting, proposals for real negotiations and a dignified peace," the president added.
