“In practice, these are the two areas the Russians have been ordered to defend at the expense of weakening other sectors of their territory and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.” Volodymyr Zelensky said that on June 24, after meeting Oleh Ivashchenko, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR). The two areas he meant were Moscow and the Kerch Bridge.
Zelensky said Ukraine’s long-range strike campaign has pushed Russia to move air defense systems to those sites, leaving thinner coverage in other Russian regions and in occupied Ukrainian territory.
Strikes on Moscow and Crimea
His statement came after Ukraine hit Moscow twice within a week, damaging a local oil refinery. It has also stepped up attacks on occupied Crimea as part of a plan for a “logistical lockdown.”
The Kerch Bridge, also called the Crimean Bridge, was badly damaged in Ukrainian attacks in October 2022 and July 2023. Russia has worked to keep it running because of its strategic and symbolic weight. It carries provisions and fuel to Russian forces, and recent strikes have repeatedly disrupted it.
Zelensky added that recent Ukrainian attacks destroyed more than 60,000 metric tons of ammunition at a Russian Baltic Fleet arsenal near St. Petersburg. Defense plants making radio electronics and other military components were also hit. He did not say which facilities or when the strikes happened. Ukrainian officials also went over intelligence on Russian missile production and strategic aviation, he said.
“We are preparing new, entirely justified steps in response to Russia’s prolongation of the war and its strikes against Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
Russia’s side
Moscow has changed how it attacks Ukrainian cities. It increasingly aims several ballistic missiles at a single target to overwhelm air defenses. That is hard for Ukraine to counter given its shortage of anti-ballistic interceptors.
The strikes come as Vladimir Putin’s approval rating is under growing pressure from the intensified Ukrainian attacks, and he has begun to speak about them more openly. After the largest Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow, on June 18, Putin accused Kyiv of targeting civilian infrastructure to disrupt energy supplies and the tourism season.
Sources
- Russia redeploys air defenses to Moscow, Kerch Bridge as Ukrainian strikes intensify, military intelligence says
- Ukrainian strikes force Russia to redeploy air defenses to Moscow and Crimea
- Russia redeploys air defenses to Moscow, Kerch Bridge as Ukrainian strikes intensify, military intelligence says
