The Russian government must take additional measures to compensate for the consequences of Ukrainian strikes on Russia's civilian infrastructure, President Vladimir Putin said, quoted by Reuters, BTA reports.
Speaking at a government meeting, Putin said Ukraine was striking civilian targets because it was losing territory, adding that the strikes were aimed at disrupting energy supplies and the tourist season in Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier in the day that Ukraine was attacking civilian targets on Russian territory in an attempt to destabilize society, Reuters reported.
Since the beginning of the year, Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries have doubled, leading to long queues and higher fuel prices in some regions, Reuters notes. Kiev says its aim is to weaken one of the key sources of financing for Russia's military operations and show Russians that conflict is no longer a distant prospect.
Speaking to graduates of military and security service schools, Putin said he saw no reason for direct talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky given Kiev's strikes on what he called civilian targets.
“The strikes on civilian infrastructure - what are they aimed at? To destabilize society. "In the context of such a large-scale offensive, when the entire West is working for them (the Ukrainians) and these drones are arriving in huge numbers, the goal is to create a sense of uncertainty about the actions of the Russian armed forces," he said during the televised meeting.
Putin also said that Russian troops were close to establishing control over the Ukrainian city of Kostyantynivka (Konstantinovka in Russian) - the southern stronghold of the so-called "fortified belt" in the Donetsk region, which Moscow is demanding that Kiev abandon.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, for his part, said that the United States was moving away from the agreements reached between Putin and US President Trump during a summit in Alaska last year, Interfax news agency reported.