Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday heavy drone attacks on Russia were retaliation for a strike that damaged a historic monastery in Kyiv this week, and that ‘Moscow will burn’ if attacks continue.
At least 10 people were killed on Monday across Ukraine in a drone and missile attack that damaged the 1,000-year-old Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery.
In a move of retribution, scores of drones targeted the Russian capital overnight, hitting its oil refinery for the second time this week and blanketing the city in toxic smoke.
It was Ukraine’s largest drone attack on Moscow in years, sparking fires in and around the Russian capital and forcing evacuations at the country’s largest airport, officials said.
Footage captured the moment a Ukrainian drone struck the oil depot, sending a huge fireball into the sky as debris rained down around it.
‘We don’t want this war, we never did, and everyone knows it, and our partners know it,’ Zelensky said in a voice message sent to reporters on a WhatsApp group. ‘But if Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn.’
Zelensky has rallied for support from Europe and the United States to increase pressure on Russia through sanctions on Russia’s defence and energy sectors and broader economy to force President Vladimir Putin into ending the war.
