At a closed meeting with military command, Vladimir Putin reportedly instructed group commanders to continue tasks that Moscow calls the "special military operation." According to published excerpts of the speech, the head of the Russian state placed special emphasis on the need to "continue launching massive and group strikes against the enemy's military-industrial complex facilities and logistics centers." The statement came against the background of a multi-day wave of drone attacks across Ukrainian territory.
Order to Continue Strikes
According to RBC-Ukraine, Putin stated that commanders must "continue fulfilling tasks" within the framework of the "SMO" and directly pointed to the priority of massive group strikes. The official wording referred to military-industrial complex facilities and logistics centers. At the same time, Ukrainian media note that such an instruction was voiced immediately after a report by Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov on the start of massive strikes against Ukraine's energy facilities, which belong to civilian infrastructure.
Gerasimov's Report: Bridges and Energy
Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov, speaking at the same meeting, promised that troops "will strike bridges of strategic importance in Ukraine." Thus, the Kremlin's public rhetoric about "military" targets is combined with the actual destruction of energy and transport infrastructure facilities upon which the life support of cities depends. It is against this backdrop that Kyiv and the regions record daily launches of strike drones—both jet-propelled and conventional.
Context: Zelenskyy's Statements on "Lifting Restrictions"
Kyiv's position provides a broader context for these orders. According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking in an interview with the Financial Times citing Ukrainian intelligence data, Putin back in September instructed the military command to abandon the rules of warfare and lift all restrictions on strikes. The President of Ukraine stated that intelligence data included intercepted communications of Kremlin representatives and pointed to the expansion of the list of targeted assets—from energy infrastructure to schools, communication hubs, and data processing centers. The Russian side has not officially commented on these claims.
October 16 Attacks: Six Regions
According to the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, on the morning of October 16, drones hit energy facilities in Kyiv and the Kyiv, Volyn, Rivne, Kharkiv, and Odesa regions. In Rivne, large-scale power supply disruptions were recorded following the attacks, with blackouts affecting part of the Rivne region as well. Thus, the order to "continue massive strikes" coincides in time with one of the most intense waves of attacks on energy infrastructure in recent days.
