Story summary
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military leaders in September to abandon traditional rules of war, targeting civilian infrastructure and nuclear facilities. This came amid Russia's intensifying attacks on Ukrainian cities, including critical bridges, schools, hospitals, and energy centers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that this marks a new phase of the conflict where Russia aims to pressure civilians into evacuating major cities like Kyiv.
According to intercepted communications, Putin’s “new doctrine” allows attacks on infrastructure such as roads, schools, and hospitals, with the goal of forcing people to leave their homes. The World Health Organization has documented over 3,000 Russian attacks on Ukrainian healthcare facilities since February 2022, while more than 4,700 schools and universities have been hit.
In response, Zelensky announced that Ukraine will intensify its attacks specifically on Russian oil refineries to disrupt Russia’s war efforts but emphasized they would not deliberately target civilians. This strategy reflects the escalating nature of the conflict, with both sides increasingly targeting infrastructure rather than military targets alone.
Written for “Ukraine Russia War Escalation” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.
In short:
Ukraine's intelligence services have seen documents that show Russia's "new doctrine" of military attacks on civilian targets ahead of the northern winter.
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that → see → winter
In response, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine will double down on attacking Russian oil refineries, but will not target civilians.
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Ukraine → say → civilians
Mr Zelenskyy says he would be happy to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin for peace talks at December's G20 in Miami.
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he → say → Miami
Ukraine will double down on attacking Russian oil refineries in response to a new policy of air strikes by Moscow designed to force people to abandon Kyiv and other cities, but will not target civilians, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
uncertain
Ukraine → double → Zelenskyy
Ukraine's intelligence services have obtained documents showing that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had issued a "new doctrine" of military attacks on a much broader range of civilian targets ahead of this winter, Mr Zelenskyy said.
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Zelenskyy → obtain → winter
"We saw documents and we know that they allow them to attack infrastructure, logistics, and especially to attack in the cities, in the villages, everywhere, roads, schools, hospitals," Mr Zelenskyy told Reuters.
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Zelenskyy → see → Reuters
"To pressure people to leave the capital, leave different cities: this is the goal of the operation.
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this → pressure → operation
"
Driving the shift in policy, Mr Zelenskyy said, was Mr Putin's desire to appear strong at a time when his military was losing ground in a key frontline region and sustaining higher levels of casualties.
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military → drive → casualties
In a statement urging foreign nationals to leave Kyiv, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow would continue to systematically hit targets in what it said were retaliatory strikes for Ukrainian attacks on Russia in recent months.
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it → urge → months
Both sides deny deliberately targeting civilians.
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sides → deny → civilians
Counteroffensive in Donbas
Mr Zelenskyy said a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive, code-named "Vivaldi", had recaptured about 140 squarke kilometres of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region and was still ongoing.
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counteroffensive → say → region
Russia has said it must control Donbas in its entirety as a condition for any peace deal.
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it → say → deal
In recent weeks, US President Donald Trump's administration has sought to revive talks to end the four-year-old conflict — Europe's bloodiest since World War II.
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administration → seek → II
The US leader last month urged Ukraine to refrain from hitting Russian oil installations, saying that was sending global diesel prices surging.
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prices → urge → installations
But Mr Zelenskyy, speaking as air raid sirens blared outside the gilded halls of the presidential offices, said he had received no indications from Russia that Mr Putin was interested in peace talks, or discussing a ceasefire on energy infrastructure.
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Putin → speak → infrastructure
LoadingOver the past week, the Ukrainian capital has come under persistent attack by Russian drones and missiles targeting energy and telecoms assets, road and rail infrastructure.
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capital → come → assets
For the first time, Russia has targeted the bridges across the Dnipro River connecting east and west Kyiv.
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Russia → target → Kyiv
Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would react to the change in tactics by Moscow, but would not target civilian infrastructure indiscriminately.
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Ukraine → say → infrastructure
"We have to respond in any way [we can].
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we → have → way
With their attacks on our energy, we have to respond on their energy,"Mr Zelenskyy said.
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Zelenskyy → have → energy
"First of all, oil refiners et cetera: what gives money to them for this war.
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what → give → war
But we will not respond, of course, just like them, on any civilian objects.
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we → respond → objects
After the Trump administration invited Mr Putin to attend a G20 summit in Miami in December and discussed business deals with Russian envoys, Mr Zelenskyy urged Washington not to normalise relations with Russia before ensuring a return to peace.
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Zelenskyy → invite → peace
Mr Zelenskyy said he would be happy to meet Mr Putin for peace talks at the G20, but he warned the US not to believe in "illusions" that Russia would simply end hostilities if it gained control of Donbas.
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it → say → Donbas
"It's not fair just to normalise," said Mr Zelenskyy, dressed in his trademark black T-shirt and military-style jacket.
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Zelenskyy → normalise → shirt
Any resumption of economic and diplomatic ties with the West had to be in return for Russia ending hostilities, he said: "Because peace is more important than any kind of economy."
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peace → have → economy
While the US has proposed a resumption of trilateral talks in the coming weeks in the UAE, Mr Zelenskyy noted that an exact date and location for the technical-level conversations had still not been set.
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date → propose → conversations
Ukrainian officials warn that Russia has stockpiled hundreds of ballistic missiles ahead of an expected winter onslaught against electricity and water infrastructure.
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Russia → warn → infrastructure
Last winter, the worst of the war, Russian strikes left swathes of the country without electricity and heating for days at a time.
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strikes → leave → time
Since the summer, Moscow has also begun launching dozens of fast and relatively cheap jet-powered Shahed drones a day at Ukraine, whose air defence teams have struggled to cope because their interceptor drones were too slow to catch them.
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drones → begin → them
The Aporia
