Zelensky Says Putin Does Not Understand Russians’ Sentiment.

According to Zelensky, Putin’s comments showed that he is out of touch with the feelings of Russians, who are facing long queues at petrol stations linked to Ukrainian strikes on oil industry targets.

Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected a new Ukrainian proposal to refrain from long-range strikes and reduce hostilities. In a televised interview on Sunday, Putin said Russian forces would continue their pressure on the battlefield until the four Ukrainian regions were fully captured.

The Ukrainian president explained in detail what he said were the 15 deadlines set — and later postponed — by the Kremlin over four years to capture four regions in eastern Ukraine: Donetsk and Luhansk in Donbas, as well as Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Russia’s political leadership remains obsessed with Donbas, he said. If Russia does not end the war, it will have to postpone this deadline once again, Zelensky added.

Even an oil-producing country — a ‘petrol station’, as Russia is often called — is now facing shortages, Zelensky said in his evening address.

Russian forces attempted to advance towards the capital Kyiv, but after failing, they withdrew and focused their efforts on capturing Donbas. Although Moscow’s forces are slowly advancing westward in Donetsk Region, Ukrainian officials said their progress had slowed significantly after Kyiv stepped up its medium- and long-range strike campaign. Russia has captured all of Luhansk Region and large parts of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

He stressed, however, that Kyiv would respond appropriately to Russian attacks on civilian targets and would do so in a way that weakens Russia’s state apparatus and its ability to continue the war.