Russian State Duma has called for open attacks on Ukrainian cities to force population to surrender
Petr Tolstoy, Deputy Speaker of the Russian State Duma, has proposed launching strikes on Ukrainian cities to demoralise the population and force them to surrender.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by The Moscow Times.
It is noted that the Deputy Speaker of the State Duma made this statement during the Russian propaganda talk show ‘Vremya Pokazhet’ on 'Channel One'.
Tolstoy suggested warning Ukrainians about the strikes
During the broadcast, the Russian MP was asked what would happen to the more than 20 million people currently living in Ukraine if the country’s territory were to be turned into "scorched earth".
In response, Tolstoy claimed that residents of Ukrainian cities could allegedly be warned in advance of impending strikes and given 24 hours to evacuate.
According to him, such a tactic is intended to demoralise Ukrainian society and force it to agree to surrender.
"We are calling for the public to be demoralised to such an extent that they come out to meet our troops with their hands up," said the Russian politician.
In Russia, there is continued talk of strikes on civilian infrastructure
Tolstoy’s statement contradicts the Kremlin’s repeated assertions that Russian troops are allegedly striking only military targets.
At the same time, the UN regularly records civilian casualties resulting from Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine.
According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, at least 437 civilians were killed in July 2026, with a further 2,610 people injured. This was the highest number of civilian deaths since May 2022.
Long-range missiles and drones remained one of the main causes of civilian casualties, accounting for 183 deaths and 967 injuries. The UN recorded the majority of these incidents in towns and cities located far from the front line.
Russian MPs have already called for intensified strikes
This is not the first time Tolstoy has raised the issue of expanding Russian attacks against Ukraine.
Previously, Andrei Gurulev, a member of the Russian State Duma and a reserve lieutenant-general, called for strikes against Ukraine’s banking infrastructure. In particular, he proposed attacking banking operations centres.
