Presidential Office warns of Russia’s escalating missile tactics against Ukraine

He noted that Russia can strike anywhere in Ukraine, regardless of the location of social, civilian, military, or critical infrastructure targets.

"Russia has enough missiles that can hit anywhere in Ukraine. The issue is that even if you are informed about an attack or the direction of ballistic missiles, like in Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Poltava, or Kharkiv, it takes not minutes but seconds—about a minute and a half or two—to react. The only way to prevent this is to build a comprehensive missile defense system, especially in the eastern and southeastern regions," said Podolyak.

He emphasized that to defend against ballistic missiles, Ukraine's air defense must be based on systems like Patriot or NASAMS, which are effective against such missile types.

According to the advisor, this could increase the interception rate to 90-95%.

"This is the first point. It's clear what needs to be done and where the deficiencies lie. It’s also nonsensical to blame Ukrainians, as that’s precisely what these genocidal strikes aim for. This brings me to the second point: we are witnessing Russia's missile tactics change. They are no longer hiding what they are doing but striking city centers, educational institutions, and healthcare facilities. We saw this in Poltava, Lviv, and earlier this morning in Sumy," he added.

Podolyak stressed that Russia deliberately targets densely populated areas, city centers, and social infrastructure. The enemy's goal is to shock the population.

"Once again, they want to provoke internal blame games over who is at fault and whether this could have been prevented. The tactic is completely intentional. They no longer claim to be attacking military targets; they openly admit they are striking civilians. Why is this tactic possible today? Because, unfortunately, there is no effective international jurisdiction," the advisor to the President's Office said.

He cited one example: Putin's recent visit to Mongolia, a signatory to the Rome Statute but did not enforce the ICC warrant.

"Unfortunately, we must acknowledge today that Russia will escalate its disregard for international law and its attacks on Ukraine's civilian population because it has no other tools to influence the situation," Podolyak emphasized.

Attacks on Ukraine

As a reminder, Russia has been launching massive strikes on major Ukrainian cities for two consecutive days. On the morning of September 3, the occupiers fired ballistic missiles at Poltava, partially destroying a six-story educational building and damaging three apartment buildings, five private houses, and an office building.

As of the morning of September 4, 53 deaths have been reported in Poltava.

Today, the Russians carried out a combined strike on Lviv, damaging over 70 buildings. Seven people, including three children, have been confirmed dead, and more than 50 people were injured.