Putin admits that Russia attacks civilian targets in Ukraine, accuses ‘Kyiv regime’ of using human shields
Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Monday that Russia has repeatedly attacked civilian sites in Ukraine, arguing that these strikes target Ukrainian soldiers and military infrastructure staged in residential and commercial areas. In comments to state television correspondent Pavel Zarubin, the president referred directly to Russia’s April 13 strike in downtown Sumy, which killed at least 35 people and injured more than 125. Putin said the attack targeted Ukrainian servicemen assembled that morning to be honored for their participation in the incursion into Russia’s Kursk region:
For example, everyone knows about our armed forces’ strike on the Congress Center at Sumy University. Is that a civilian site? It is. But that’s where they were holding an awards ceremony for those who committed crimes in the Kursk region — both Ukrainian armed forces units and nationalists. These are individuals we consider criminals, who deserved retribution for their actions in the border region, including in Kursk. And they got it. That strike was carried out precisely to punish them. But is it a civilian site or not? The [Kyiv] regime is using these civilian facilities.
In his remarks to Zarubin, Putin also mentioned past Russian attacks in Odesa on agricultural infrastructure, claiming that the Ukrainian authorities “together with their foreign handlers” were developing and testing new missile technology at the site. Additionally, Putin described an attack on a restaurant where supposed war criminals gathered — an apparent reference to a Russian attack on April 4 in a residential area of Kryvyi Rih that killed at least 20 civilians.
