Putin accuses Ukraine of Kakhovka dam collapse: ‘We’re not interested in destruction’ 

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has met with war correspondents and state media journalists, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reports.

At the beginning of the meeting, Putin once again touched upon the topic of “demilitarising” Ukraine, referred to Viktor Yushchenko becoming the President of Ukraine in 2005 as a “coup d’état”, showed surprise at “Zelensky, a person with Jewish blood inside his veins, being able to support neo-Nazis”, and said that the “goals of the special operation are fundamental”. According to Putin, the goals change depending on the situation at the front, but in general remain the same. 

He also commented on the Ukrainian counteroffensive, saying that Russia’s losses are ten times fewer compared to Ukraine’s. According to the Russian president, Ukraine has lost 25-30% of the military equipment provided by the West.

Putin accused Ukraine of blowing up the Kakhovka HPP and said that the catastrophe had “unfortunately” foiled the offensive plans of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. “We’re definitely not interested in destruction — the aftermath will be hard on the territories controlled by us,” he clarified.

The president also mentioned the drone attacks on Russia. He said that there is “a problem” but it is “solvable”. He thinks that the attacks on the border regions are conducted to make Russia move its troops from the locations the Ukrainian army plans to advance on.

He noted that there is no need to declare martial law, announce a new mobilisation wave, or send conscripts to the war. However, he added that “Russia, it seems, will have to consider the question of establishing a buffer zone in Ukraine to ensure [Russian] territories are no longer being shelled”.

The president confirmed to have signed orders on rehabilitation of convicts recruited for the war in Ukraine, as well as the fact that the fighters of “volunteer detachments” and private military companies would have to sign contracts with Russia’s Defence Ministry — otherwise, the state will not be able to provide them with legal safeguards. 

When it comes to the “grain deal”, Putin said that it was needed to aid poor countries in Africa, but Russia was “deceived” once again, and now “we’re thinking about pulling out from the deal”.