NEW YORK: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has threatened to attack the Kremlin if Russia continues the war against his country.
"First of all they have to know where their bomb shelters are. If they will not stop the war, they will need it," the head of state said in an interview with The Axios Show in New York on Thursday.
Zelensky is hoping for the delivery of unspecified long-range weapons from the United States. At the same time, however, he ruled out attacks on civilian targets. "We are not terrorists," the Ukrainian president said.
According to Zelensky, the Ukrainian military now has combat drones that can fly up to 3,000 kilometres. The Kremlin is only about 450 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
Former Kremlin chief Dmitry Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of the Russian National Security Council, issued a sharp warning to Zelensky and threatened a strike against Kiev.
"The Kiev drug addict said the Kremlin should know where a bomb shelter is so its occupants can hide when he uses long-range American weapons. What the freak needs to know is that Russia can use weapons a bomb shelter won't protect against. Americans should also keep this in mind, Medvedev wrote on X, referring to Zelensky's requests that the US provide such weapons.
In May 2023, two drones exploded over the grounds of the Kremlin, the seat of the Russian president. At the time, however, Kiev denied any involvement.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for more than three and a half years.
Zelensky also warned that the Kremlin will become a target and Russian officials should check for bomb shelters if Moscow does not stop its invasion of his country, Axios reported on Thursday.
Russia has occupied about 20 per cent of Ukraine and rained bombs and missiles on civilian and military sites since launching a full-scale invasion in 2022, with Moscow's forces striking the government complex in Kyiv for the first time this month.
Zelensky said that Ukrainian policy would also now put previously off-limits targets in the crosshairs, Axios reported. — dpa
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