Russia admitted two years into its invasion of Ukraine on Friday that it was "in a state of war," as it launched a massive wave of missile and drone attacks on its neighbour's territory.
Russia fired almost 90 missiles and more than 60 Iranian-designed kamikaze drones, damaging "dozens" of energy facilities, including power stations, in what Ukrainian officials said was an attempt to cripple the country's electricity and heating network.
"We are in a state of war," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview to a pro-Kremlin newspaper, published Friday.
The admission marks an escalation in official language used to describe the conflict, which the Kremlin initially referred to as a "special military operation".
"Yes, it started as a special military operation, but as soon as this bunch was formed there, when the collective West became a participant on Ukraine's side, for us it already became a war," Peskov said.
Moscow often accuses the West of direct participation in the conflict by supplying Ukraine with weapons.
Russian attacks hit at least nine regions -- from Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia near the front lines to Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine, hundreds of kilometres away from the fighting.
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Comments (3)
dear idiot, the west has yet to start getting serious, and the time has come to start!
Well isn't that special.....putler now allows his people to use the word "War". Something this has always been. His nation invading a peaceful neighbour to murder and steal from its people. Yep thats called illegally initiating "WAR". May it be his imminent downfall.
In putins' wacky world of banning stuff, I thought readers might like what else he had banned there:
-National Democratic Institute
-National Endowment for Democracy
-International Republican Institute
-For Responsible Government (advocated to hold leaders responsible for their actions)
-Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People (highest representative body for Tartars)
-Open Russia (advocates for human rights and democracy)
-Free Russia Forum (formed by chess champion Gary Kasparov to promote democracy)
-Anti-Corruption Foundation (founded by since putin murdered Alexei Navalny
-Meta Platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Threats for 'extremism')
This list goes on but you get the point....'will of the people'....not important. Putler is 'el supremo dictator'.
What will putin's ban tomorrow in russia? As its impossible to know how his deranged mind works thats too hard to predict. Of course after his death, democracy and the freedoms it affords becomes a possibility again.
Keep up your courageous fight to protect your democracy Ukraine. May your allies also work to remove the MRGA movement threatening their own democracies.
Good. And now that we are officially st war, let's go, fire up the factories, produce ammunition and give Ukraine what it needs to send the russians back home. Shouldn't be much of a problem to out-produce russia if the "collective west" really gets their s**it together.