Kremlin Responds to Ukraine: Accusations of State Terrorism and Rising Tensions

The Kremlin has declared an intention to respond to Ukraine's latest assaults as deemed necessary by its military operations, condemning Kyiv's actions as state terrorism. The announcement followed Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian bomber planes at Siberian and northern air bases, alongside accusations of sabotaging rail bridges in southern Russia.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reinforced statements by President Vladimir Putin labelling Ukraine's leadership as terrorists, emphasizing Putin's claim of a deliberate order to destroy a passenger train, which Moscow considers a state-level act of terrorism. However, Russia has yet to produce evidence linking Ukrainian officials to these attacks, and Kyiv has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.

Heightened tensions from these incidents have intensified the ongoing conflict that erupted in February 2022, undermining progress toward peace talks recently renewed in Turkey. Nonetheless, Peskov noted Putin's agreement with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on maintaining communication with Ukraine at a working level, despite the absence of discussions between Putin and Trump regarding sanctions against Russia or a direct meeting.

(With inputs from agencies.)