Russia warns Western backers and threatens further annexation of Ukrainian territory

The Russian Defence Ministry warned Western countries supplying drones, missiles and ammunition to Ukraine that any increase will be met with a corresponding rise in the number and power of Russian attacks. The warning followed a Ukrainian raid that used 625 long‑range drones, which Moscow said it shot down 613 of, and prompted a massive Russian strike with precision weapons and drones on Ukrainian military‑industrial and energy targets.

President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a Russian command centre, said that if Kyiv continues to hit Russian civilian infrastructure, Russia will expand its "security zone" by annexing more Ukrainian land, naming the Kharkiv, Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk regions as historically Russian. He also claimed the capture of Kostiantynivka, a claim denied by Ukrainian officials.

Key statements included: “The desire of the Western sponsors … will be countered with an appropriate increase in the quantity and power of retaliatory attacks” and “the more blows the enemy attempts against our civil infrastructure, the larger the security zone we will have to create in the neighboring territories.”