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Ukraine will double down on strikes against Russian oil refineries in response to Moscow's new doctrine of attacking civilian targets before winter, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says.
Ukraine will double down on attacking Russian oil refineries in response to a new policy of air strikes by Moscow designed to force people to abandon Kyiv and other cities, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
He stressed that Ukraine will not target civilians. Ukraine's intelligence services have obtained documents showing that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had issued a new doctrine of military attacks on a much broader range of civilian targets ahead of this winter, Zelenskyy told Reuters. 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, he said.
Zelenskyy Cites Putin Military Losses
Driving the shift in policy, Zelenskyy said, was Putin's desire to appear strong at a time when his military was losing ground in a key frontline region and sustaining higher levels of casualties. In a statement urging foreign nationals to leave Kyiv, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow would continue to systematically hit targets in what it said were retaliatory strikes for Ukrainian attacks on Russia in recent months.
Zelenskyy said a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive, code-named Vivaldi, had recaptured about 140 square kilometres of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region and was still ongoing. Russia has said it must control Donbas in its entirety as a condition for any peace deal. In recent weeks, US President Donald Trump's administration has sought to revive talks to end the four-year-old conflict, Europe's bloodiest since World War II.
The US leader last month urged Ukraine to refrain from hitting Russian oil installations, saying that was sending global diesel prices surging. But Zelenskyy, speaking as air raid sirens blared outside the gilded halls of the presidential offices, said he had received no indications from Russia that Putin was interested in peace talks, or discussing a ceasefire on energy infrastructure.
Over the past week, the Ukrainian capital has come under persistent attack by Russian drones and missiles targeting energy and telecoms assets, road and rail infrastructure. For the first time, Russia has targeted the bridges across the Dnipro River connecting east and west Kyiv. Strikes have killed at least six people and damaged Kyiv's Northern Bridge, disrupting traffic for a third day in Moscow's latest effort to complicate life in the Ukrainian capital.
Ukraine Targets Russian Oil Refineries
Previously, it has hit apartment blocks, supermarket warehouses, gas stations, datacentres and other civilian targets. Zelenskyy said Ukraine would react to the change in tactics by Moscow, but would not target civilian infrastructure indiscriminately. We have to respond in any way we can. With their attacks on our energy, we have to respond on their energy, he said.
First of all, oil refineries et cetera: what gives money to them for this war. But we will not respond, of course, just like them, on any civilian objects. After the Trump administration invited Putin to attend a G20 summit in Miami in December and discussed business deals with Russian envoys, Zelenskyy urged Washington not to normalise relations with Russia before ensuring a return to peace.
Zelenskyy said he would be happy to meet Putin for peace talks at the G20, but he warned the US not to believe in illusions that Russia would simply end hostilities if it gained control of Donbas. It's not fair just to normalise, said Zelenskyy, dressed in his trademark black T-shirt and military-style jacket.
Any resumption of economic and diplomatic ties with the West had to be in return for Russia ending hostilities, he said: Because peace is more important than any kind of economy. While the US has proposed a resumption of trilateral talks in the coming weeks in the UAE, Zelenskyy noted that an exact date and location for the technical-level conversations had still not been set. Separately, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the G7 would release 100 million barrels of oil.
The announcement came after US President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on Europe to release reserves. Ukrainian officials warn that Russia has stockpiled hundreds of ballistic missiles ahead of an expected winter onslaught against electricity and water infrastructure. Last winter, the worst of the war, Russian strikes left swathes of the country without electricity and heating for days at a time.
Ukraine Counters Shahed Drone Threats
Since the summer, Moscow has also begun launching dozens of fast and relatively cheap jet-powered Shahed drones a day at Ukraine, whose air defence teams have struggled to cope because their interceptor drones were too slow to catch them. Zelenskyy said Ukraine was working to offset low supplies of ammunition for its fighter aircraft, F-16s and MiGs, that bring down about 60% of the Russian jet-powered drones.
He said Ukraine was working to boost its jamming capabilities, and in the second half of October it would receive a first shipment of small, cheap air defence missiles capable of hitting new jet-powered Shahed drones. Ukraine had begun to deploy its own domestically made ballistic missile, the FP-7, which has a range of about 250km, said Zelenskyy. It hoped to have a longer-range model, the FP-9, ready by autumn.
Latvia Election Favors Pro-Ukraine Party
Exit polls from Latvia's parliamentary election published on Saturday night favoured prime minister Andris Kulbergs's centrist, pro-Ukraine United List party, suggesting the country will maintain its pro-European and pro-Ukrainian course. But populist parties also had a good night after an election campaign dominated by fears about neighbouring Russia and the cost of living at home. With 72% of ballots counted, United List was on 36.5%, followed by the populist, Maga-style Latvia First on 13.0%.
Kulbergs told journalists his party would not cooperate with any parties that were pro-Russian: Our strong position is that any economic ties with Russia makes us weak; Russia would exploit this. Baltic countries have warned for months that Russia is mounting sabotage, cyber and other hybrid attacks across Europe to erode support for Ukraine and sow fear, although some western officials doubt it is capable of launching a direct assault on Nato, of which Latvia is a member.
Throughout his campaign, Kulbergs promised more anti-drone capabilities for Latvia and to maintain defence spending at 5% of gross domestic product, one of the highest levels in Nato. His pro-Kremlin rivals said Latvia should stop any aid to Ukraine and instead focus more on cost-of-living issues, particularly among the country's Russian-speaking minority.
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abcnews:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
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