President Volodymyr Zelensky responded on social media on Wednesday about Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s promise to respond to Kyiv’s recent attack on Russian airfields.
“Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields,” US President Donald Trump wrote in a social media post after speaking with Putin on the phone Wednesday.
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
Trump was referring in part to the Operation Spiderweb surprise drone attack on Russian military airbases housing strategic bombers on Sunday, which took out an estimated $5-7 billion worth of aircraft and equipment. Ukraine apparently did not give the White House advanced notice before the attack, likely for operational security reasons.
“Many have spoken with Russia at various levels. But none of these talks have brought a reliable peace, or even stopped the war,” Zelensky responded in his post.
“Unfortunately, Putin feels impunity. Even after all of Russia’s horrific attacks, he is reportedly preparing yet more so-called ‘responses,’” the post says.
“It means, that with every new strike, with every delay of diplomacy, Russia is giving the finger to the entire world – to all those who still hesitate to increase pressure on it, the president noted. Yet, it is Russia that should be seeking peace. It is in Moscow that they must begin to feel that war carries a cost, a high cost, and the highest one should be paid by the aggressor.”
Ukraine Hits Targets 1,300 km Inside Russia, Striking Ufa Oil Refinery and Penza Missile-Linked Plant
Zelensky noted that since the beginning of 2025, the Russian military forces have carried out strikes on Ukraine using almost 27,700 air bombs, 11,200 Shaheds, and 9,000 strike drones of other types, as well as over 700 missiles, including ballistic ones.
“This is the pace of Russian strikes, and they deliberately set this tempo from the very first days of the full-scale war. Russia has restructured its entire state, society, and economy to be able to kill people in other countries on a massive scale and with impunity,” Zelensky wrote.
The Ukrainian president stressed that if the world reacts weakly to Putin’s threats, Putin would interpret it as a readiness to turn a blind eye to his actions. When he does not feel strength and pressure, but instead senses weakness, he always commits new crimes. He sees such an attitude as silent permission: permission for new atrocities, new strikes, new killings.
“That is why we in Ukraine are so grateful to everyone in the world who is trying to stop this war and stop Russia’s attacks. To everyone who tells the killer that he will be held accountable. To everyone who says Russian missiles and bombs must stop taking innocent lives,” said Zelensky.
“And today, on the Day of Remembrance of Ukrainian Children Killed by Russian Aggression, we remind the powerful of this world of the facts. If the powerful do not stop Putin, it [would mean] they share responsibility with him. And if they want to stop him but cannot, then Putin will no longer see them as powerful,” Zelensky wrote.
You can also highlight the text and press Ctrl + Enter
