May 26, 2026, 4:35 p.mMay 26, 2026, 4:35 p.m
Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. (archive image)Image: keystone
The head of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, has threatened to use weapons of mass destruction against Ukraine in the event of attacks against the civilian population in Russia.
“All of this can lead to us using the weapon that leaves no trace of anyone left,” Volodin said, according to a press release from parliament, the State Duma. He warned against letting it get to that point.
The new threat was triggered by a drone attack on a dormitory in Starobilsk in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region. According to the occupation authorities, 21 civilians were killed in last week’s attack. The General Staff in Kiev announced that the attack was aimed at a Russian military drone unit.
Serious Russian attacks as a campaign of revenge
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered retaliation after the attack. On Sunday, the Russian military used, among other things, the new Oreshnik medium-range missile, which is particularly feared because of its destructive power, in a major attack on Ukraine. The capital Kyiv was particularly badly hit.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, further strikes against Kyiv are to follow. Here too, Moscow cites retaliation for the deaths of civilians in Starobilsk. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also informed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the possible attacks.
In the war against Ukraine that Putin began more than four years ago, Russia has already systematically shelled its neighbor’s hinterland. Infrastructure and residential buildings are repeatedly destroyed and numerous civilians are killed. The Ukrainian counterattacks are also causing increasing casualties among the civilian population in Russia. (sda/dpa)