Putin orders continued large-scale strikes on Ukraine

Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has said that large-scale strikes on Ukraine's defence industry infrastructure and the facilities supporting its operation should continue.

Source: Putin during a visit to a forward command post of Russia's Joint Group of Forces, as quoted by Russian news agency Interfax; other Russian state media; BBC News Russian

Quote from Putin: "In this regard, I would like to note that the task of conducting large-scale coordinated strikes on Ukraine's defence industry infrastructure and the facilities supporting its operation must continue."

Details: Putin also claimed that Russia would expand its so-called "security zone" in response to "Ukrainian strikes on Russian civilian infrastructure".

He also repeated claims that Russian forces had "captured Luhansk Oblast", referring to it as the "liberation of the Luhansk People's Republic".

The Russian Defence Ministry claimed on 1 April that Russian forces had taken full control of Luhansk Oblast. At the time, media outlets noted that this was the third time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion that the ministry had announced the complete capture of Luhansk Oblast, predicting that similar claims would likely be repeated.

Putin also claimed that Russian forces had "captured Kostiantynivka" in Donetsk Oblast.

According to Russian media outlets, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin had been informed of the complete "liberation" of the city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast. However, BBC News Russian noted that Peskov provided no objective evidence to support the claim.

Putin claimed at the end of June that Russian forces were just over 10 km from the city of Sumy and between 2.5 km and 5 km from Kupiansk, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was photographed beside the city's entrance sign in December 2025.

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