(MENAFN) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has threatened to target Russia’s Belgorod and Kursk regions with blackouts if attacks on Ukraine’s power infrastructure continue, citing strikes originating from these areas.

“One of the most intense areas from which attacks on Ukraine are launched is the Belgorod direction,” Zelensky said Wednesday. “Maybe those in Belgorod should no longer feel comfortable if they act this way. That would be entirely fair… If they want to cause blackouts for us, we will do the same for Belgorod and Kursk.” He emphasized that Russian civilians are not targets.

Moscow maintains its drone and missile strikes are retaliatory, aimed at Ukrainian energy infrastructure and military-linked facilities. The Russian Defense Ministry has said it avoids civilian or non-military targets.

Ukrainian forces have previously struck infrastructure in Russia, injuring three people, including a ten-year-old, in Belgorod over three days and leaving nearly 40,000 residents without power.

Conversely, a recent large-scale Russian strike damaged Ukrainian energy and military-industrial sites, causing blackouts in Sumy, Kharkiv, Odessa, and Lviv.

The tit-for-tat attacks follow Moscow’s response to Kiev’s bombing of the Crimean Bridge in October 2022, which killed four people and prompted regular Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities. According to Ukrainian authorities, more than half of the country’s generating capacity has been lost due to Russian attacks.

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