Zelenskyy: More Ukrainian Drone Strikes on Moscow Could Bring the War Closer to an End

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the prospects for ending Russia's war against Ukraine would improve if Ukrainian long-range drone strikes placed greater pressure on Moscow and St. Petersburg, forcing Russia's political elite to experience the war firsthand.

The remarks were made in an interview with the Financial Times on July 6, excerpts of which were published on Zelenskyy’s official X page.

According to the president, the Kremlin paid little attention to the war when Ukrainian long-range strikes did not reach Russia's two largest cities because it viewed the conflict as being far from the country's political center.

Putin paid little attention to the war as long as Ukrainian deep strikes did not reach Moscow or St. Petersburg, believing the war was far removed from Russia's political center, said Zelenskyy. He added that strikes on Moscow would force the Kremlin to recognize the realities of the fighting already affecting Russia's border regions, including Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk.

“When not one hundred drones but a thousand start reaching Moscow, and when he feels it and sees it, he will be advised to move somewhere beyond the Urals. That will be a moment that opens a new chapter on the path toward ending the war. The farther Putin is from Moscow, the closer the end of the war and peace will be,” Zelenskyy said.

The president added that Russia's political and economic elite are concentrated in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where decisions to continue the war are made.

“That is why deep strikes have had, and continue to have, a major impact. We must keep working on this. It is constant, difficult, and daily work. We must all stay focused and energized,” Zelenskyy said.

In the same interview, Ukrainian President said the war had entered a new phase in which air power had become the decisive factor, arguing that control of the skies now carries greater strategic importance than operations on land or at sea.

Zelenskyy highlighted Ukraine's rapid expansion of long-range drone production and deployment, saying these capabilities have fundamentally reshaped the battlefield. He noted that Ukrainian deep-strike drones have enabled forces to hit military and energy infrastructure far inside Russian territory, increasing pressure on Moscow's ability to sustain its war effort.

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