What happened
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his military leaders to target civilians and nuclear facilities, indicating a significant escalation in the conflict. According to Zelensky, Putin has abandoned the rules of war, seeking to regain the upper hand after four and a half years of fighting.
Zelensky stated that the goal of these attacks is not only to destroy infrastructure but also to pressure and instill fear in civilians. The Ukrainian leader made these comments while speaking from a bomb shelter at a school in Kyiv, which had just been hit by a Russian jet-powered drone.
Ukrainian intelligence has intercepted information that Russia has intensified its air strikes on Kyiv, targeting schools, hospitals, and data centers, among other civilian targets. Russia's latest tactic is to isolate Ukraine's largest cities, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, and Odesa, as the winter sets in.
Moscow also plans to strike nuclear facilities and sever them from the energy grid to force Ukraine to accept Russia's demands. The Ukrainian president criticized the US and Europe for not doing enough to exert economic and diplomatic pressure on Moscow to end the war.
