‘Zelensky continuing his desperate efforts’: Russia calls Ukrainian president’s threat to target Kremlin ‘irresponsible’

Russia on Friday (Sep 26) slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for making “irresponsible” threats against Moscow’s top officials. This comes after Zelensky warned that Ukraine could target the Kremlin if it doesn’t stop its invasion, and Russian officials should check for bomb shelters. Earlier this month, Russia launched its first attack on a Ukrainian government complex since the three-and-a-half-year war after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine.

Responding to Zelensky’s comments, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “Zelensky is clearly continuing his desperate efforts. That's why he's issuing threats left and right, which is quite irresponsible.”

What did Zelensky say?

In an interview with Axios published on Thursday (Sep 25), Zelensky said that Russian officials should know where their bomb shelters are. He added that if Russia does not stop the war, they will need it.

“They have to know where their bomb shelters are,” Zelensky said. “They need it. If they will not stop the war, they will need it in any case.”

Zelensky also responded to criticism from US President Donald Trump over the indefinite suspension of elections in wartime Ukraine, saying that he would not seek to remain in power once peace is achieved.

“My goal is to finish the war,” not to continue to run for office, he said. He further added that Ukraine would not target Russian civilians because “we are not terrorists.”

He stated that Ukraine hopes to obtain more powerful weapons from the US, which he would use to strike deep inside Russia. He did not name the weapon.

However, he indicated that Ukraine hopes to obtain a more powerful US weapon, which he did not name, to threaten strikes deep inside Russia.

“If we will have such long-distance weapons from the United States, we will use it,” he said.