Russian military threatens strikes on ‘decision-making centers’ in Kyiv

The Russian military has warned it could strike Ukrainian “decision-making centers” in the Ukrainian capital and said it wouldn’t be stopped by the possible presence of Western advisers there.

The Russian Defense Ministry accuses the UK of making statements encouraging Ukraine to use Western weapons to carry out strikes on the Russian territory, warning that if it happens the Russian military could retaliate by hitting government structures in Kyiv.

It directly points at UK Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey, who told Times Radio that it was “not necessarily a problem” if British-donated weapons were used to hit sites on Russian soil.

The ministry says in a statement that “the Russian armed forces are ready to deal retaliatory strikes with long-range precision-guided weapons on Kyiv centers that would make such decisions.” It notes that “the presence of citizens of one of Western countries in the Ukrainian decision-making centers won’t necessarily pose a problem for Russia in making a decision to launch retaliatory action.”

The Russian military so far has avoided striking presidential, government and military headquarters in Kyiv during its campaign in Ukraine that has entered a third month.