Zelensky: Ukraine's Long-Range Strike Capability Alters Global Perception

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared in his evening video address, as cited by Ukrinform, that Ukraine's long-range strike capabilities are altering the situation and global perception of the Russian-led war. "Today, the Ukrainian Defense Forces, our Security Service, and our intelligence services conducted a large-scale operation targeting the Moscow region," he said.

"A wave of our strikes in deep territory – we guarantee that Ukraine has this capability. The distance to targets this time was over 500 kilometers, which is significant because the Moscow region is the most densely packed with Russian anti-aircraft defense systems. They primarily protect the area around their seat of power. However, Ukrainian actions with long reach are now overcoming this," Zelensky stated.

"As I said yesterday, the Russians need to think about their refineries, oil processing facilities, and enterprises – not about how to destroy the lives of other peoples in Ukraine, Moldova, or any other neighboring country. Yesterday, our armed forces struck targets in the temporarily occupied territory, including Crimea," he emphasized, as reported by BTA.

"Our long-range strike capabilities significantly change the situation – and, in a broader sense, the world's perception of the Russian war. Many partners are now understanding what is happening and how everything has changed – both in terms of the war's relation and the accessibility of Russian targets on Russian territory. The war predictably returns to its 'home port,' a clear signal that one should not enter a conflict with Ukraine or wage an unjust, conquering war against another people – specifically, the Ukrainian people," Zelensky declared.

The Ukrainian Security Service announced that specialists from the Special Operations Center "Alpha" and other units of the Defense Forces have struck several targets in the Russian Moscow region and in the temporarily occupied Crimea. The Angstrom plant in the Moscow region, supplying semiconductors to the Russian military-industrial complex and under US sanctions, as well as the Moscow oil refinery and oil transport stations "Solnechnogorskaya" and "Volodarskoe" were targeted.