Russia-Ukraine war: Why has Putin rejected limits on long-range strikes?
Russian president claims Ukraine, which has ramped up attacks on Russia’s energy sector, proposed the limits. Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow will continue its
Russian president claims Ukraine, which has ramped up attacks on Russia’s energy sector, proposed the limits. Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow will continue its more than four-year-long war on Ukraine, rejecting Kyiv’s proposals to limit the use of long-range missiles and stop hostilities. In an interview with Russia’s state television service on Sunday, Putin said Ukraine had proposed a mutual halt to long-range attacks as a step towards peace. But the Russian president suggested this proposal was made because Kyiv’s forces were under pressure along the 1,250km (775-mile) front line. “It is clear why this proposal is being made because our counterstrikes deep into Ukrainian territory are much stronger, have greater impact and are, frankly, more destructive,” Putin said. “Given their catastrophic shortage of personnel, the Ukrainian armed forces apparently believe this could be their salvation. But saving the Kyiv regime is not part of our plans,” he added. Ukrainian officials have not yet commented publicly on Putin’s remarks — including on the Russian leader’s claims that Kyiv sent a proposal to curb the use of long-range missiles. Putin acknowledged that Russia has had to increase its air defence capacity to counter intensified Ukrainian drone attacks that have targeted Russia’s oil industry in recent months. What’s behind Putin’s rejection of Kyiv’s reported proposal, and what does this mean for peace talks? Here’s what we know What is the situation on the battlefield? Putin made his comments as Ukraine continued to intensify its attacks on Russia. On Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian military had hit the Slavyansk and Yaroslavl oil refineries in Russia overnight with long-range drones, about 300km and 700km (190 and 435 miles) from the front line, respectively. A fire broke out at the oil refinery in Slavyansk-na-Kubani in Russia’s Krasnodar region, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev reported on Telegram, and several houses were damaged by debris. He said one person was killed in the region just east of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula. “We continue our operations that weaken Russia’s ability to wage this war,” Zelenskyy wrote on X on Sunday, adding that each attack “means fewer resources serving Russia’s war machine”. Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries are the latest in a campaign against Russian energy sites that has gathered pace in recent weeks.
Last week, Ukraine used long-range drones to hit two oil facilities in Kerch in Crimea and Port Kavkaz in Krasnodar. Both are used to bring fuel to the Russian front lines. It also struck electricity plants, prompting the suspension of fuel sales in Crimea. On Sunday, Yaroslavl Governor Mikhail Yevrayev also reported on Telegram that the region northeast of Moscow had been under attack from Ukrainian drones and said exits from its capital, also named Yaroslavl, had temporarily been closed. Meanwhile, in the Belgorod region, which sits on Ukraine’s northeastern border, another person was killed in the Shebekinsky district during 64 Ukrainian drone attacks in 24 hours, Russia’s TASS news agency reported. Russia shot down “a total of 117 enemy drones of various types”, the governor of the neighbouring Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein, said. “Drones dropped explosive devices on our territory seven times.” Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least four people on Sunday, local officials said. Two of the dead were in Zaporizhzhia, a city in the southeast. The other two deaths were in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine. Why has Putin rejected limits on the use of long-range missiles? Putin announced his rejection as Moscow is reportedly reeling from the impact of Ukrainian drone attacks on its energy sector. However, Putin downplayed them on Sunday. “All the strikes, wherever they hit our infrastructure, absolutely do not affect the situation on the front, on the line of combat contact,” Putin said. “They are attempting to disrupt energy supplies and impact the tourism season – intentions they have openly communicated to us through various channels,” he added. He said Russia’s task at hand is “to quickly and significantly ramp up production of those air defence systems that are most needed”. In fact, Russia has a significantly greater capacity for long-range attacks, Ian Lesser, distinguished fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, told Al Jazeera. Therefore, it is not surprising that Putin would want to preserve this edge and avoid any compromise on this front, at least for the time being, he said. “Moscow will surely see its own long-range strike capability as a deterrent, perhaps all the more significant for him [Putin] as Ukraine expands its own ability to attack targets in Russia at longer range,” Lesser added.
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