Russian Duma threatens Ukraine with new strikes

Moscow has again started talking about escalation amid cold weather. The speaker of the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, has said that Russian MPs are demanding to strike Ukraine with so-called retaliatory weapons as early as next week. He wrote about this in his Telegram channel.

According to Volodin, the State Duma insists on the use of more powerful means of defeat to achieve the goals of the so-called special military operation, under which Russia understands the war against Ukraine. He also linked the threats to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's refusal to come to Moscow, saying that this would allegedly lead to new problems for Ukrainians.

The statements came amid forecasts of a sharp cold snap. According to weather forecasters, the temperature in Ukraine may drop to -20...-27 degrees Celsius and in some places to -30 degrees Celsius between 1 and 3 February.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that he had asked Vladimir Putin not to temporarily strike Kiev and other Ukrainian cities. At the same time, the Kremlin said that Russia had agreed to refrain from attacks on Ukrainian energy only until 1 February.

Thus, the threats from Moscow coincided in time with the end of the announced restrictions on strikes and the expected severe frosts.