Andrius Kubilius, the European Commissioner for Defence and Space, stated in a post on the social network X that Russian leader Vladimir Putin has effectively brought the war onto Russian territory himself, steadily escalating the situation and receiving “mirror” responses from Ukraine in return. This is reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the politician's publication. According to Kubilius, Moscow's constant provocations only trigger proportional counteractions by Kyiv, which, in his words, have already led to serious consequences for Russian infrastructure.
“Mirror” Logic of Escalation
The central thesis of the European Commissioner's statement is built on the idea of mirroring: every escalation by Russia, in his formulation, generates a comparable counterstep by Ukraine. Thus, Kubilius places responsibility for bringing hostilities onto Russian territory squarely on Putin himself, asserting that it is precisely the policy of escalation that has led to strikes reaching targets inside Russia. This is rhetoric aimed at presenting Kyiv's counteractions as a forced and proportional reaction, rather than as an independent initiative.
Oil Refining and Air Traffic
As concrete results of such a policy, Kubilius noted that Russia has, in his words, effectively lost most of its own oil refineries, as well as been deprived of international air routes. These claims underscore the scale of the impact of strikes on energy and transport infrastructure, which, according to the European Commissioner's position, became the consequence of a mirror response to Russian actions. The text of the statement does not provide a list of specific targets or dates of strikes — it is a general assessment of the outcomes of the escalation.
Intelligence Services in the Crosshairs
Particular attention is warranted for Kubilius's forecast regarding possible next targets for Ukrainian forces. The European Commissioner emphasized that these could be the headquarters of Russian intelligence services, and in sharp terms declared: “Now the KGB and the GRU will be waiting for a Ukrainian drone to fly into their offices.” This statement effectively records a public designation of Russian security structures as potential targets for future strikes and reflects a hardening of rhetoric at the level of European institutions.
Contradictory Data
There is a difference in the framework of interpretation. On the one hand, Kubilius characterizes strikes on Russian territory as a “mirror response” and asserts that Putin “brought the war” to Russia himself, effectively removing the initiative for escalation from Kyiv. On the other hand, the public text of the statement does not provide independent confirmation of specific figures on the “majority” of destroyed refineries or on the complete cessation of international air routes, nor does it specify dates or a list of targets. Thus, the European Commissioner's quantitative and causal formulations constitute his political assessment, which external sources within the scope of this material do not verify on a point-by-point basis.
In conclusion, Andrius Kubilius's statement records a hardening of the position of European structures on the issue of retaliatory strikes on Russian territory and publicly names Russia's intelligence services as potential targets. For further verification of the key quantitative claims (the scale of damage to refineries, the status of international air routes), additional independent sources beyond the scope of this report are required.
