Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top ally Dmitry Medvedev has said that the war with Ukraine can last for decades and long periods of fighting can continue interspersed by truces, reported Russia’s RIA news agency on Thursday.
The report stated that former president and deputy chairman of Putin’s Security Council Medvedev had made the statement during his visit to Vietnam.
Medvedev is known for making hardline comments. Last month, he described Ukrainian authorities as an infection.
“This conflict will last a very long time, most likely decades. As long as there is such a power in place, there will be, say, three years of truce, two years of conflict, and everything will be repeated,” RIA cited Medvedev as saying.
Medvedev reiterated the claim of Moscow that Ukraine is a Nazi state. In January, Medvedev stated that if Russia was defeated, it would lead to a nuclear war.
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Ukraine claims shooting down 10 missiles, 20 drones
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials on Friday claimed that they shot down 10 missiles and 20 drones launched by Russia in overnight attacks that took place on the capital Kyiv as well as the city of Dnipro and eastern regions.
This month, the missile and drone attacks on Ukraine have been intensified by Russia, mainly attacking infrastructure facilities and logistics before an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.
The Ukrainian air force stated that they shot down 10 missiles which were fired from the Caspian Sea, along with two reconnaissance drones and 23 Iranian-made Shahed drones.
It stated that the Russians launched a total of 17 missiles and 31 drones during the attacks which began around 10:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Thursday and continued till 5 am on Friday.
Several missiles and drones hit targets in Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, stated officials.
“It was a very difficult night. It was loud — the enemy launched a massive attack on the region with missiles and drones,” said Serhiy Lysak, the Dnipropetrovsk regional governor, on the Telegram messaging app. “Dnipro has suffered,” he added.
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Lysak stated that various cars, houses and private companies, including a gas station and a transport company, had been damaged.
Officials in Kyiv stated that the roof of a private house and a shopping mall and several cars had been damaged. The governor of the Kharkiv region also stated that several private houses and industrial facilities were damaged.
Russia which started its full-scale invasion 15 months ago has launched hundreds of missile attacks since last October aiming to destroy critical power facilities and infrastructure.
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