Russia admits it is striking 'everything and anything' in Ukraine

Moscow is now striking targets indiscriminately across Ukraine in response to Kyiv's intensified attacks on Russian territory, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Sept. 13.

Peskov claimed Russia had previously avoided indiscriminate strikes but changed its approach after Ukraine began targeting Russian economic and strategic infrastructure.

"The Russian Federation did not strike everything and anything," Peskov told reporters. "It started doing so after the Ukrainians themselves opened Pandora's box."

Peskov's remarks echoed Russian President Vladimir Putin's earlier warning that Ukraine had "opened Pandora's box" by striking Russian economic targets.

Putin said on Aug. 22 that Moscow would retaliate by targeting Ukraine's "sensitive economic sectors."

"(Ukraine) set out to damage our economy. What did it do? It opened this Pandora's box itself. Expect a response targeting your most sensitive economic sectors," Putin said in late August.

Moscow has dramatically increased the number of jet-powered attack drones it launches against Ukraine in recent weeks, with Kyiv facing particularly heavy and near-constant attacks.

Russian drones have targeted Kyiv almost continuously for more than a week, from late August into early September, leaving residents concerned about what the coming winter will bring.

Russia has systematically targeted Ukraine's energy grid since the first year of the full-scale war, inflicting extensive damage on critical infrastructure and causing repeated power outages.

Ukraine, in turn, has stepped up strikes on Russian oil refineries, fuel depots, and other strategic targets in an effort to reduce Moscow's energy revenues and increase economic pressure.

The overnight drone assault on Sept. 13 brought the war close to Poland's border, with strikes reported in Volyn Oblast in northwestern Ukraine near the Yahodyn–Dorohusk border crossing.

Russian drones damaged a gas station near the crossing and struck the locomotive of a Kyiv–Warsaw passenger train near Ukraine's border with Poland.

At least four Russian strikes on gas stations in Kyiv were recorded over the past week. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Sept. 11 that the city lacks the resources to build shelters at every gas station and is also facing a shortage of weapons needed to intercept Russian drones and missiles.

Russia has previously used drone attacks on gas stations to disrupt fuel supplies and road logistics, particularly in Kharkiv, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. By August, the tactic had spread into central regions, with dozens of gas stations struck over the summer.