Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russian President Vladimir Putin personally ordered his military commanders in September to abandon the remaining constraints on how Russia wages war, clearing the way for intensified strikes on civilian targets and nuclear energy infrastructure.
“He [Putin] said there are no rules now,” Zelensky told the Financial Times on Thursday, speaking from a bomb shelter at a Kyiv school that had just been hit by a Russian jet-powered drone.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, the order came just as Russia began intensifying air strikes on Kyiv, hitting schools, hospitals and data centers. Zelensky said the goal is not only destruction but intimidation: the strikes are meant “to pressure people” and instill fear.
With front lines largely frozen and Russian forces unable to seize the Donbas, Putin has shifted toward what Zelensky called “massive attack[s], massive killing.”
Cities in the crosshairs
Ukrainian officials say Russia’s new approach focuses on isolating the country’s largest cities — Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv and Odesa — as winter sets in. Moscow is also reported to be targeting nuclear facilities and aiming to sever them from the power grid, a tactic Kyiv believes is intended to force Ukraine into accepting Russian terms in early 2027.
Officials in Kyiv say the strategy includes efforts to trigger a new wave of Ukrainian refugees into neighboring countries such as Poland, where war fatigue and anti-immigrant sentiment have been rising.
Drone barrages and air defense gaps
Zelensky said Russia launched roughly 500 drones against Ukraine in a single day, half of them jet-powered and harder to shoot down. Ukraine is working to strengthen its air defenses but faces a shortage of engines for drone interceptors, he said.
American-made F-16 jets have proven highly effective against Russia’s jet-powered drones, Zelensky said, but about half of Ukraine’s F-16 fleet is currently sent abroad for repairs and maintenance at any given time. Kyiv wants that maintenance work moved inside Ukraine so the jets can return to combat faster.
Zelensky’s remarks followed months in which Ukraine has struck Russian oil refineries, ports and industrial sites, contributing to fuel shortages and economic strain inside Russia. He criticized the United States and Europe for doing, in his words, “not enough” to pressure Moscow economically and diplomatically to end the war.
Moscow’s denial
The Kremlin rejects the accusation that it deliberately targets civilians. “Russia’s armed forces do not strike schools or hospitals,” government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
That denial stands against a substantial documented record. The World Health Organization has logged more than 3,000 Russian attacks on Ukrainian healthcare facilities, and Ukraine’s education ministry says more than 4,700 schools and universities have been damaged or destroyed since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
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