Vladimir Putin appeared to struggle as he explained why Russia is rethinking negotiations with Ukraine after Moscow was pummeled by strikes.
The 73-year-old Russian president appeared confused as he addressed the media in St. Petersburg in the aftermath of Ukraine’s largest-ever drone attack on Moscow, which occurred on the last day of voting in Russia’s parliamentary elections last weekend.
Putin seemed on edge as he spoke to reporters, at times losing his train of thought as he discussed the strikes.
“What has happened lately is also well known to everyone. On the night of Sept. 19 to 20, that is, on the main voting day, an attempt was made at a massive strike on Moscow,” he said.
Last Sunday, the Russian Ministry of Defense said it shot down more than 1,900 drones, eight guided aerial bombs, eight cruise missiles, and four rockets. At least three people were killed and a major oil refinery in Moscow was damaged in the strikes.
The attack was Ukraine’s largest against Moscow to date, though Kyiv did not confirm the number of drones and projectiles it fired. Ukrainian General Staff later said the main target was the Moscow Oil Refinery, which was forced to halt its output.
“Our long-range responses had a very significant impact in the Moscow region last night,” Zelensky said in a statement on Telegram at the time. He said the facilities targeted were raking in “billions of dollars that sustain the war machine.”
Putin warned Ukraine that there would be consequences.
“They are the ones who started it. Everywhere, on every front. Are these playthings, child’s play?” Putin asked reporters. “They should therefore be made to feel Russia’s retaliatory strikes and understand that no provocative actions, no stirring up the situation to secure a result, will work. They’re only making things worse for themselves.”
However, Putin maintained that all of Ukraine’s proposals remained “on the table.”
“They are all on the table. It’s all possible,” he said. “But after everything they have done, we will still have to think carefully about what we need to do in response.”
“Judging by everything, the retaliatory actions of the Russian armed forces turned out to be so sensitive and destructive for the enemy that now they are once again actively raising the issue of negotiations on several fronts,” he continued.
Putin also appeared to be at a loss as to why Ukraine has repeatedly targeted the warehouses of Ozon and Wildberries—massive online retailers dubbed the “Amazon of Russia” that account for about 8.5 percent of Russia’s GDP in goods and services, according to Reuters.
“Strikes on Wildberries or Ozon warehouses—what is that? What’s the point? After that, we started responding to each instance,” he said.
