KYIV (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned Moscow on Tuesday of a powerful response if Russian forces carry out attacks on or around Ukraine’s Independence Day.
Zelenskiy has warned that Russia, which invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, could try “something particularly ugly” in the run-up to Wednesday’s Independence Day, which marks Ukraine’s break from Soviet rule.
Asked at a news conference with visiting Polish President Andrzej Duda about the possibility of a Russian missile strike on Kyiv, he said there was a daily threat of attacks and Ukrainian intelligence was working with foreign intelligence.
“Russia does this all the time. Can they increase the number of these strikes? Yes, they can do it on (August) 23rd-24th,” Zelenskiy said.
“What will Ukraine do if they hit Kyiv? The same as now. Because for me as president, and for every Ukrainian, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Donbas, it is all the same. Ukrainians live there. (and) Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia.”
He said the response would be the same for any Ukrainian city that comes under attack from Russia.
“(If they hit us, they will receive a response, a powerful response,” Zelenskiy said. “I want to say that each day … this response will grow, it will get stronger and stronger.”
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets, Editing by Timothy Heritage)