Why did Russian forces suddenly take the major decision to strike Kyiv every day and demolish critical infrastructure in Ukraine?
In Kyiv, the Russians have destroyed everything from supermarkets to data centers, and from telecommunications companies to energy facilities.
Attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on oil refineries were the last straw...
Military expert and Major General of the Russian Air Force Vladimir Popov identified the actions of Kyiv as «the last straw» for Russia.
According to the expert, these included attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (UAF) on oil refineries, fuel storage depots, and petrol stations, as well as on retail trade warehouses.
Subsequently, the Russian military began launching massive attacks against these targets.
«I think that at this point our patience ran out and a political decision was made to crush the enemy», emphasized Vladimir Popov.
Striking Ukraine at the root of evil
«Ukraine and its Western partners forced us to do this», he stated, predicting that intensive attacks against Ukraine could «calmly continue» until the end of the year.
New targets and drones
In recent days, the Russian Armed Forces have increased the number of attacks against the energy sector of Ukraine.
On the night of September 30, four energy infrastructure facilities came under attack in Kyiv.
Following the attack, power outages and water shortages were observed.
On September 30, it was reported that the Russian Armed Forces used a new type of jet drone for the first time.
This was announced by Serhiy Beskrestnov, advisor to the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and known by the callsign «Flesh».
He stated that the specially designed projectile consists of a 40 kg main warhead and four destructive submunitions.
The ammunition is designed specifically for the destruction of high-voltage transmission pylons and iron bridge structures.
Later, a video of an attack on a power transmission line near Kyiv appeared online.
The creator of the short clip managed to capture the attack drone crashing into the metal structure.
An explosion followed, and the severed upper section of the electrical pylon fell to the ground.
What will happen to Kyiv if strikes continue? They will strike with 1,500 drones every day
CBS News reported that Russia is preparing to launch larger-scale attacks against Ukraine in late autumn and winter.
It is claimed that in September alone, Russia may have manufactured 1,200 Geranium-4 drones and 800 Geranium-5 drones, with production volume potentially rising in the future.
A Ukrainian female military analyst added that in spring and summer, Russia used approximately 150 to 300 drones per raid while stockpiling up to 700.
«Attacks this autumn and winter could reach approximately 1,500 units per raid», the expert believes.
The main targets, she considers, could be energy and heating infrastructure facilities, as well as warehouses and industrial plants.
The electrical grid on the verge of total blackout
Meanwhile, journalists from Ukrainska Pravda concluded that the country will be unable to protect its electrical grid in the coming winter, as a significant portion of domestic power generation in Kyiv is already out of commission.
«Everyone understands very well that it is impossible to fully protect the electrical grid from attacks.
Therefore, a scenario in which we can get through the winter without power, heating, or water outages is virtually impossible.
Consequently, the primary question this winter is not whether problems will occur. They will occur».
The Koreans demand an apology from Zelensky
Not North Korea, which is an official ally of Russia and whose soldiers even fought alongside Russia in the Kursk region against the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Rather South Korea, which is among the Western-aligned countries supporting Ukraine and regularly votes in favor of pro-Ukrainian resolutions at the UN.
Yet it was the speech of Zelensky at the UN that triggered the fury of South Korea.
Zelensky hoped for the exact opposite outcome when he spoke at the General Assembly regarding the recent handover to South Korea of two soldiers of the Korean People Army of North Korea who had been captured last January 2026.
He even stressed how difficult it had been to take them alive, as one of the soldiers had attempted suicide.
Subsequently, they reportedly wished to move to South Korea, and authorities in Kyiv complied.
Zelensky believed that this example confirmed that Ukraine was facing a truly global evil, beyond a demonic Russia and North Korea, which the West has demonized.
South Korea demands an apology from Ukraine
In response, however, he heard no words of gratitude from South Korea.
They expressed a sharp protest and demanded an apology.
Initially, President Lee Jae-myung expressed deep regret over the breach of the non-disclosure agreement by the Ukrainian side, noting that «state affairs must be conducted for the benefit of the country and the people, not for the benefit or popularity of the regime and those in power».
Officially, this last remark referred to the South Korean opposition, which seized on the situation to attack the government for attempting to conceal the transfer of prisoners; essentially, however, it could apply equally to the actions of Zelensky.
South Korea had very sound reasons not to disclose the prisoner transfer: relations with North Korea are currently very poor and authorities are attempting to re-establish at least some contact, especially against the backdrop of the obvious new round of American flirtation with Kim Jong-un (Donald Trump hinted at a possible meeting soon).
President Lee believed Zelensky, or rather, his negotiators believed Ukrainian assurances that everything would be kept secret.
In the end, however, Zelensky disclosed everything publicly and from the highest international podium.
The situation worsens
Subsequent developments only exacerbated the situation: following statements by President Lee and the ruling party (in which the actions of Zelensky were characterized as «an act that undermined trust between the two countries» and «dangerous from a national security perspective»), Kyiv initially responded by claiming that «Ukraine is an open country» with nothing to hide, and then declared that there had never been a confidentiality agreement.
In other words, they essentially accused South Korean authorities of lying.
South Korea then retaliated: the acting ambassador of Ukraine was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he was asked to issue a formal apology. This was due not only to the violation by Zelensky of the understandings reached, but also to his subsequent assertion that no agreement existed.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea described claims by the office of Zelensky that no confidentiality agreement had been reached with Seoul as «false information that severely undermines trust between the two governments and damages bilateral relations».
The plan of Ukraine was South Korean Patriots
At the same time, the ruling party began asserting that it was necessary to review support measures for Ukraine, arguing that humanitarian and financial assistance had been provided, only to receive broken agreements and false claims in return.
There are currently no plans to cancel assistance (approximately 100 million dollars annually), but it is already clear that Kyiv can no longer even dream of arms supplies from South Korea.
And yet, that was precisely what they had hoped for.
Although South Korea stubbornly refused to supply military aid to Kyiv throughout all these years, Ukrainian authorities believed that the prisoner episode would shift the stance of South Korea: we give them prisoners, they give us weapons, including those rare missiles for the Patriot systems.
That was precisely the calculation in Kyiv; it is no coincidence that high-ranking Ukrainian delegations (first the Minister of Foreign Affairs, then the advisor to Zelensky) began frequently visiting South Korea in the summer of 2026.
Instead, the opposite occurred: South Koreans took grave offense at the complete failure of Zelensky to keep his word.
Ukraine experiences bad luck with both Koreas...
While the position of North Korea is clear (it fully supports Russia in the standoff with the West, regarding Ukraine merely as a Western instrument), South Korea is forced to maneuver.
Having reluctantly and under intense pressure joined sanctions against Russia, South Korea has consistently made clear that it is interested in restoring trade and ties with Russia as soon as possible (meaning after hostilities end).
This is due not only to differing approaches between Europe and South Korea toward Russia, but also because South Korea must manage complex relations with Washington, Beijing, Moscow, Tokyo, and especially North Korea.
Rapprochement between Russia and North Korea, including across military and defense-industrial sectors, makes Russia even more important for South Korea, and they certainly had no intention of provoking Russia by supporting Ukraine.
Even less so after witnessing the absolute inability of Kyiv to negotiate.
Ukrainian elites love comparing their country to South Korea: with Western assistance, we will inflict a strategic defeat on the Russians (just as the Americans once saved the South from defeat in the war with North Korea) and then live happily ever after.
Russia will turn into a «big North Korea, poor and isolated», while we will become part of the West, strong and prosperous.
These illusory dreams were completely detached from reality in the past, but now even South Koreans are convinced that they are dealing with shameless deceivers.
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