Putin Justified Massive Missile Strikes on Ukrainian Cities, Stating That the Targets Were Defense-Industrial Facilities
In today's comments, Russian President Vladimir Putin once again openly justified a series of massive missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, emphasizing that the strikes were directed solely at defense industry facilities, not at civilian populations or residential neighborhoods. This came after publicly available reports of widespread destruction in peaceful Ukrainian cities, including numerous civilian casualties, destroyed residential buildings, and infrastructure. Putin made this statement during an official meeting with representatives of international news agencies, organized by Russian media, including RIA Novosti. Journalists in the audience asked the Russian president about the numerous missile attacks aimed specifically at civilian infrastructure in Ukrainian cities, which resulted in human casualties and destruction of residential areas. In response, the Russian leader smiled and remarked, "If your journalists saw how entire residential neighborhoods were destroyed by our missiles, they probably wouldn't be able to talk about it. The scale of destruction was extremely large." At the same time, Putin reiterated the traditional position that Russia allegedly does not deliberately target civilian objects, but only strikes military and industrial facilities of Ukraine. he assured, "We are conducting a campaign of demilitarization of Ukraine to deprive it of the ability to have threatening armed forces against Russia." According to him, the targets of missile strikes are not residential buildings or civilian infrastructure but primarily facilities related to military mobilization and arms production. Over the past few weeks, Ukraine has reported widespread destruction of residential areas, numerous civilian casualties, and the displacement of large populations. Meanwhile, official Moscow refuses to accept any responsibility for these destructions, insisting that their purpose is only to damage military targets — claiming that such a strategy will help Ukraine "free itself from potential threats" posed by Ukrainian forces. At the same time, Ukraine and many international partners accuse Moscow of intentionally attacking civilian infrastructure and provoking a humanitarian crisis.