Putin Threatens More 'Severe' Response If Ukrainian 'Terrorist Attacks' Continue As Russia Aggravates Strikes

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of more "severe" retaliation against Ukraine after several explosions hit the center of the war-torn nation in response to the Crimea bridge explosion.

What Happened: Putin addressing his Security Council, in televised comments, said, "Let there be no doubt, if attempts at terrorist attacks continue, the response from Russia will be severe," reported Agence France-Presse.

See Also: Paul Tudor Jones Says Russia-Ukraine War Likely To End With 'Violent Death' Of Putin: Here's What It Means For The Markets

The comments came after Russia carried out its biggest wave of strikes across Ukraine in months, killing at least 11 people around the country. The Ukrainian military said Putin fired more than 80 missiles on cities across Ukraine and that Moscow had also used Iranian drones launched with the help of Belarus.

Meanwhile, President Putin's predecessor, Dmitry Medvedev, also warned through his social media that the strikes — which damaged civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and caused mass blackouts — were only "the first episode."

After Russia attacked Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a video, said Putin’s army is trying to wipe his country “off the face of the Earth.” 

He added that the Russian army timed its strikes on Kyiv to inflict the greatest possible losses among people and also targeted the country's civil infrastructure. "The second target is people. Such a time and such targets were specially chosen to cause as much damage as possible," Zelenskyy said.

Check out more of Benzinga's Europe and Asia coverage by following this link.