Putin acknowledges strikes on civilian targets in Sumy and Kryvyi Rih, calls them «retribution»

Vladimir Putin, photo: GETTY IMAGES

Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged that the Russian army has been striking civilian targets in Ukraine. According to him, the reason for this is the alleged use of these objects by the Ukrainian military.

This was reported by the Russian state news agency TASS.

Among other things, Putin mentioned the attack on the congress centre of Sumy State University on 13 April, Palm Sunday. The attack killed 35 people, including two children.

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According to the Russian president, the building was used to award military personnel who, according to him, had participated in crimes in the Kursk region.

«Is this a civilian facility? It is a civilian facility. But there was an award ceremony for those who committed crimes in the Kursk region — both the Armed Forces and nationalists. And these are the people we consider to be criminals who should have received well-deserved retribution for their actions,» he said.

Vladimir Putin also said that Ukraine was allegedly planning to set up production of a new missile system on the territory of an agricultural enterprise in Odesa region, which was attacked by the Russian army.

Separately, the head of state mentioned a strike on a restaurant, without specifying the location or date. This probably refers to the attack in Kryvyi Rih on 4 April, when a Russian missile hit the centre of a residential neighbourhood, killing 20 people, nine of whom were children. Putin justified the strike by saying that, according to him, representatives of Ukrainian security forces were holding meetings and celebrations in such facilities.

Meanwhile, France 24 TV channel published a video from surveillance cameras in a restaurant in Kryvyi Rih, which showed that there were no military personnel in the restaurant at the time of the strike.

To recap, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a proposal to Russia to stop shell ing civilian infrastructure with missiles and drones for at least 30 days with the possibility of extension. Putin said he was ready to consider this initiative.