Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the Russian Security Council in Moscow on Friday. [AFP]
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the Russian Security Council in Moscow on Friday. [AFP]

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine — which has carried out intense strikes over recent months — that "the Kyiv regime has opened Pandora's box itself," signaling plans for retaliation.

According to Russian state broadcaster Vesti, Putin said in an interview aired Sunday that Ukraine had "started targeting our civilian companies and publicly declared their goal of destroying the Russian economy," adding, "They will receive an answer to that."

"Are they trying to disrupt our logistics?" Putin said. "Retaliatory measures will follow soon." The remarks were widely interpreted as a direct warning in response to a series of Ukrainian strikes on dozens of warehouses belonging to Wildberries, an e-commerce company often called "Russia's Amazon."

Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Ukrainian military's "40-day operation" — a campaign focused on striking Russian logistics warehouses — had been successfully completed.

Putin denounced the operation, saying "their goal is to destroy Russia," but claimed it had "produced the opposite result from what the enemy expected."

On the US-mediated peace negotiations with Ukraine, which have been stalled for months, Putin said the proposals coming his way were unacceptable. "We are ready to engage in dialogue for peace, but we want dialogue based on reality," he said.


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