Zelenskyy claims Putin ordered ‘No Rules Now,’ escalating attacks on civilian targets
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Abdullateef Fowewe
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed his military in early September to abandon previous constraints on warfare, leading to intensified strikes on civilian infrastructure aimed at forcing people to flee Ukrainian cities.
In comments drawn on Friday from an interview with the Financial Times and shared on X, Zelenskyy stated, “We know from intelligence and some people around Putin that at the beginning of September Putin said, ‘No rules now.’ The Russians couldn’t occupy us. So now they are doing massive attacks and massive killings.”
He added that Russia is targeting “our bridges and, from what we understand, after our data centers, internet, cell network, hospitals, kindergartens, schools, universities – everything. They want people to run away from their cities, and we need to do everything to save our people and cities.”
Zelenskyy made the remarks while discussing Ukraine’s air defenses against growing numbers of Russian jet-powered drones.
He said F-16 fighter jets currently destroy 50 to 60% of such drones and that Ukraine is testing five models of high-speed interceptor drones.
“In October, we will have 400 of these interceptors,” he noted, while acknowledging challenges including inconsistent effectiveness rates (ranging from 30% to 70% in tests) and shortages of engines needed for production.
The interview took place in a bomb shelter inside a Kyiv school that had recently been hit by a Russian drone, according to the Financial Times.
Zelenskyy’s X post included video footage showing rubble and damaged buildings consistent with a recent strike.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, has entered its fifth year.
Ukrainian officials have reported an increase in aerial attacks in recent weeks, including strikes on energy infrastructure, schools, hospitals, and other civilian sites in cities such as Kyiv.
Zelenskyy has linked the reported shift in Russian tactics to battlefield difficulties, saying Moscow turned to broader pressure on the population after failing to achieve territorial occupation goals.
Ukraine has increasingly relied on Western-supplied F-16 jets and domestically developed drones to counter Russian unmanned aerial vehicles, including faster jet-powered versions of Iranian-designed Shahed-type drones.
Officials in Kyiv have highlighted engine shortages and the high cost of scaling interceptor production as key constraints. Some reports also note that a significant portion of Ukraine’s F-16 fleet has been undergoing maintenance in Europe, limiting availability during attacks.
The Kremlin has previously denied deliberately targeting schools or hospitals.
