According to RT's report on August 22nd local time, Russian President Putin warned in an interview with the television channel 'Russia 1' that Ukraine has 'opened the Pandora box' by attacking Russia's economy and civilian infrastructure, and is now facing a 'catastrophic situation' due to Russian retaliatory strikes.
Putin said that since the spring of this year, Kiev has significantly increased its attacks using remote-controlled drones against Russian oil and gas infrastructure. Subsequently, the scope of attacks was expanded to include e-commerce warehouses and civilian logistics facilities. In response, the Russian military targeted naval transportation routes and key port facilities, emphasizing that these facilities are used to handle imported goods related to Ukrainian military activities. This action effectively cut off Ukraine’s main export routes.
A Russian apartment building was attacked, according to TASS reports.
Putin noted that the Ukrainian side attempted to seek mediation through intermediaries, aiming to "prevent the situation from turning into a catastrophic one," but its intentions are already clear. He emphasized that it was the Ukrainian side that initiated this conflict by launching "large-scale missile and drone attacks on our civilian targets and logistics facilities." It was the Ukrainian side that opened the "Pandora's box."
When talking about the effects of Russian retaliation, Putin revealed that Russian strikes had accurately targeted Ukraine’s "most sensitive economic sectors," particularly the agricultural export sector—a field that is a major source of revenue for Ukraine. He also said that the diplomatic proposals Moscow receives sometimes are "strange and unacceptable." Russia is always willing to engage in dialogue regarding peace, but only on the basis of realities that are emerging locally.
