Putin says intensified strikes are working as Russia exploits Ukraine’s air-defence shortage and Kyiv hits back deeper
BY SCN NEWS DESK
MOSCOW/KYIV — President Vladimir Putin described Russia's increasingly intense attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities as “effective” on Saturday, as mounting casualties and Ukraine's shortage of advanced air-defence missiles underscored a widening shift in the war toward sustained long-range attacks far beyond the front lines.
Putin said Russia's strikes were producing results while arguing that Ukraine's expanding attacks inside Russia had failed to achieve their intended strategic effect. His comments came after a devastating sequence of Russian attacks that killed at least 16 people at a shopping centre in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih, less than two days after another major bombardment killed 17 people in Kyiv and its surrounding region.
The Kryvyi Rih attack struck a shopping centre on Friday evening during a busy period, killing at least 16 people and wounding more than 130, including more than 20 children, according to Ukrainian authorities. Rescuers continued searching through the wreckage for missing people on Saturday. Ukrainian officials accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians, while Moscow has repeatedly denied intentionally attacking civilians and says its strikes are directed against military and military-supporting targets.
The deaths followed one of the heaviest recent attacks on Kyiv, where Russian ballistic missiles and drones penetrated Ukrainian defences and struck residential and other areas. Ukraine has been struggling with a chronic shortage of U.S.-made Patriot interceptors, the principal system in its arsenal capable of reliably countering Russian ballistic missiles. Recent Russian attacks have increasingly exploited that weakness.
Putin's description of the campaign as effective therefore carries greater significance than a routine claim of battlefield success. Russia is increasingly able to impose costs on Ukraine without making a corresponding breakthrough on the ground, using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones to attack cities, energy infrastructure and other targets while forcing Kyiv to expend limited and expensive interceptors.
The pressure is particularly acute because Ukraine cannot defend every potential target simultaneously. Patriot systems protect only limited areas, while the supply of interceptor missiles has become increasingly constrained. Zelenskyy has repeatedly appealed to Western governments for additional air-defence equipment, arguing that shortages are directly contributing to civilian deaths.
France said on Saturday it would accelerate deliveries of additional air-defence equipment and interceptor missiles following the latest attacks. The announcement reflects growing concern among Ukraine's allies that the country's ability to withstand Russia's expanding ballistic campaign is becoming as important as developments along the front itself.
Russia, however, is experiencing a different version of the same long-range war. Ukrainian drones struck targets across Russian territory again on Saturday, killing at least 10 people in Russia and Russian-held areas, according to Russian officials, while Ukraine said it targeted economic and industrial infrastructure including an oil refinery in Samara. Russian authorities said they intercepted hundreds of Ukrainian drones overnight.
Ukraine has increasingly targeted refineries, logistics centres, warehouses and other facilities that it says support Russia's military economy. Recent attacks have reached far beyond regions bordering Ukraine, disrupting businesses and forcing Moscow to strengthen air defences around infrastructure previously considered relatively insulated from the war.
Putin acknowledged that Ukrainian attacks were causing economic damage but argued on Saturday that they had not produced the political or strategic result Kyiv intended. He accused Ukraine of opening a “Pandora's box” by expanding attacks against Russian economic targets and indicated Russia would continue its own intensified campaign.
The two strategies are not identical and their effects should not be presented as equivalent. Civilian casualties from Russian strikes in Ukraine have been substantial, while Ukrainian officials say their long-range campaign prioritises military and economic infrastructure supporting Russia's war effort. Russian authorities have nevertheless reported civilian deaths from Ukrainian attacks, including fatalities during the latest wave.
What is becoming clearer is that geography no longer provides either side with the protection it once did. Russia is exploiting gaps in Ukraine's missile defences to strike Kyiv and other cities with increasing frequency, while Ukraine's rapidly expanding drone capability is carrying the war hundreds of kilometres into Russian territory.
For Moscow, the advantage is currently particularly visible in ballistic warfare. Ukraine can manufacture drones in large quantities and use them to impose economic costs deep inside Russia, but it cannot manufacture Patriot interceptors domestically at comparable scale. Russia can therefore force Kyiv into an expensive defensive contest in which every ballistic launch potentially consumes a scarce Western-supplied interceptor.
That imbalance helps explain why Ukraine is simultaneously searching for alternatives. Kyiv has been examining ways of attacking Russian missile launchers before they fire rather than relying exclusively on intercepting missiles after launch, while Zelenskyy continues pressing allies for additional Patriots and other air-defence systems.
The latest attacks demonstrate why that debate has become urgent. At least 33 people were killed across the two major Russian attacks on Kyiv and Kryvyi Rih within less than two days, while the Kryvyi Rih strike alone wounded more than 130.
Putin's remarks suggest Moscow sees that pressure as producing results and has little immediate incentive to reduce it.
But Ukraine's increasingly ambitious attacks inside Russia demonstrate the other side of the equation: Kyiv may be unable to match Russia missile-for-missile, yet it is attempting to make Russia's economic infrastructure and previously protected rear areas increasingly vulnerable.
The emerging phase of the war is therefore not simply an escalation in the number of strikes. Russia is testing how long Ukraine can sustain an increasingly expensive air defence, while Ukraine is testing how much economic disruption Russia can absorb deep behind its own borders.
Putin's use of the word “effective” matters because it signals that Moscow believes the first part of that strategy is working.
Whether it ultimately changes Ukraine's ability or willingness to continue the war is a much larger question — and one that the casualties alone cannot answer.
SCN MOST VERIFIED & UNIQUE FACT
The strongest verified connection is between Russia's intensified ballistic campaign and Ukraine's Patriot shortage.
Recent reporting shows Moscow has increased ballistic attacks on Kyiv while Ukraine faces a chronic shortage of Patriot interceptors — the key system available to Kyiv for stopping those weapons.
At the same time, Ukraine is increasingly attacking Russia's economic rear: on Saturday Russian officials reported at least 10 deaths from Ukrainian drone strikes, while Kyiv said its forces targeted facilities including the Samara oil refinery