Zelensky, on ’60 Minutes,’ Warns Russia About Attacks on Power Plants

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine threatened to escalate assaults on Russia if Moscow repeated final winter’s technique of bombarding Ukrainian energy crops that left hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians preventing freezing temperatures with out energy, warmth and water.

The warning, issued by Mr. Zelensky in an interview with the CBS Information present “60 Minutes,” comes because the battle heads into one other winter and as Ukraine has demonstrated it might attain targets deep inside Russia.

“If you happen to minimize off our energy, deprive us of electrical energy, deprive us of water, deprive us of gasoline, it’s essential to know we’ve got the best to do it” too, Mr. Zelensky stated, in keeping with a transcript launched by “60 Minutes.” The Russian chief, Vladimir V. Putin, had ordered assaults on civilian targets, Mr. Zelensky added, in a bid to “break” the Ukrainians’ spirit.

Final winter, Russia sought to weaponize the climate, a marketing campaign that in the end failed however at instances left hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians with out warmth and reliant on outdated wells for water. This 12 months, Ukraine is boldly threatening to do the identical to Russians, relying primarily on assault drones.

In current months, the frequency of drones fired at Russian targets has elevated drastically. They’ve hit a key bridge linking the Crimean Peninsula with Russia, lately broken Russian naval ships within the area and menaced the border area of Belgorod. They’ve additionally penetrated deep inside Russian borders — so far as the better Moscow area — however haven’t precipitated vital harm there.

Ukraine doesn’t formally acknowledge assaults inside Russian territory though Mr. Zelensky and different high officers have stated that they intend to deliver the battle to abnormal Russians. Within the “60 Minutes” interview, Mr. Zelensky once more tried to be ambiguous concerning the strikes though he stated, “Ukrainian drones have vaulted into Russia itself, hitting the Kremlin, warplanes and Moscow excessive rises.”

He went on to insist that he was not ordering the drone assaults and that Ukraine makes use of weapons supplied by its allies solely on Ukrainian territory.

“However Russia must know that wherever it’s, whichever place they use for launching missiles to strike Ukraine, Ukraine has each ethical proper to ship a response to these locations,” Mr. Zelensky stated. “We’re responding to them saying: ‘Your sky will not be as properly protected as you assume.’”