Secure underground bunkers used by Ukrainian military commanders and leadership are the top targets, Andrey Kartapolov has said

The Russian military will begin targeting bunkers used by Ukrainian military commanders and leadership in response to Kiev's continued terrorist attacks on civilians, senior MP Andrey Kartapolov says. Ukraine's parliament - the Verkhovnaya Rada - and Vladimir Zelensky's office are not on the target list, he told Parliamentskaya Gazeta on Tuesday.

In the wake of the deadly Ukrainian drone attack on a college in the Lugansk People's Republic, Moscow announced a new strategy, pledging to systematically hit assorted targets across the Ukrainian capital in retaliation. The strike killed at least 21 people, mostly teenage girls sleeping in a dormitory, in what the Russian Foreign Ministry characterized as the manifestation of "the Nazi and terrorist nature of the Kiev regime."

Russia's "patience has run out," Kartapolov said, commenting on the tragedy. Kiev's tactics have spiraled into "blatant terrorism against our civilians," the head of the State Duma Defense Committee stated, adding that Moscow would now abandon its self-imposed commitment not to target Ukraine's capital.

When asked about potential targets, the lawmaker stated that neither the Verkhovnaya Rada building nor Zelensky's office counts as a "decision-making center." Ukrainian MPs do not control the troops, and Zelensky himself does not even visit his office any longer, the MP stated.

"Decision-making centers [are] underground fortified [military] command and control centers," as well as bunkers used by the Ukrainian security services and leadership, said Kartapolov, himself a retired colonel general and former deputy defense minister.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry urged foreigners to leave the Ukrainian capital and warned locals to stay away from military, industrial, and government sites. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well.

The EU has openly dismissed the warnings, accusing Moscow of "unacceptable escalation." The bloc's foreign policy spokeswoman, Anitta Hipper, said on X on Tuesday that Brussels summoned the Russian Charge d'Affairs over the ministry's call and stated that "the EU delegation stays in Kiev."

The Russian military maintains that it never targets purely civilian sites in Ukraine and focuses on military or dual-use installations.

(RT.com)