The Kremlin said today that Russia will continue to carry out systematic strikes on Ukraine after Ukrainian drones hit an oil terminal and a naval base in St. Petersburg hours before the start of a prestigious economic forum, Reuters and TASS reported, quoted by BTA.
“I would like to remind you of the statement of the Foreign Ministry, which stated that our responses will be of a systematic nature, and in fact they already are“, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to a question about the Ukrainian attack on St. Petersburg.
“As for the specific [response] to the strikes: information about this is entirely and completely the prerogative of the regional authorities and our Defense Ministry. But in general, I can say that the special military operation is continuing, precisely to prevent such strikes,“ Peskov added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukrainian forces have struck several important targets on Russian territory, including an oil terminal in St. Petersburg, targets at the Kronstadt naval base and an industrial facility in the Tambov region, Ukrinform reported, citing Zelensky's post on "Telegram", BTA reported.
“Our long-range punitive measures, carried out by fighters of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Unmanned Systems Forces, the Special Operations Forces, the Military Intelligence of Ukraine and the State Border Service of Ukraine, have yielded good results. Important targets on Russian territory were hit last night. Among them was the St. Petersburg oil terminal. The distance from the state border of Ukraine to this object of the Russian oil industry, which serves the war, is about 1,100 kilometers,“, the Ukrainian president said.
Zelensky added that military targets at the Kronstadt base were also hit, as well as an enterprise involved in the production of Russian weapons in the Tambov region, nearly 600 kilometers from the front line, was attacked.
“Ukraine's plan for wide-ranging sanctions is being implemented exactly as needed to bring peace closer. Glory to Ukraine!“, he added, thanking the Ukrainian forces for their precision.