KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is likely to intensify its war against Ukraine as U.S. midterm elections approach, arguing that Moscow wants to demonstrate strength and push civilians out of the capital.
In an interview with Spanish newspaper El País conducted while he visited a Kyiv school struck by a Russian attack, Zelenskyy said President Vladimir Putin’s tactic is to escalate as much as possible and that those efforts will grow as the Nov. 3 U.S. congressional elections near.
“Putin will escalate closer to elections to show that he’s so strong and he isn’t afraid of Europeans, doesn’t feel sanctions and of course he gives his messages all over the United States,” Zelenskyy said, according to accounts of the interview published Friday and Saturday.
Pressure on Kyiv
Zelenskyy said recent waves of strikes are intended to demoralize Ukrainians and force residents, especially in Kyiv, to leave. He linked the campaign to Russia’s early 2022 goal of emptying the capital, while insisting the city and the country remain resilient. Ukrainian outlets cited his estimate that Kyiv had faced hundreds of strikes a day in recent weeks, including drones and other munitions.
The president said Russia is targeting logistics, food and medical supplies, agriculture and schools in an effort to disrupt daily life rather than strike only front-line military positions. He pointed to the school visit and to damage to a bridge over the Dnipro River as examples of attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Message to Washington
Zelenskyy said he had warned members of President Donald Trump’s negotiating team, including Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff during their Sept. 6 visit to Kyiv, that massive attacks affecting civilians would follow, particularly around election periods. He added that Russia directs its messaging primarily at the United States and is less deterred by European pressure or sanctions than Western officials hope.
He also accused China and India of helping Moscow circumvent sanctions and said Iran has supplied drone-related expertise. At the same time, Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s domestic defense industry is producing large numbers of defensive drones, while warning that ballistic missiles remain hard to stop and that funding gaps persist.
The midterms will decide control of the House and a third of the Senate and are widely viewed as a referendum on Trump’s second-term agenda, including his approach to the war.
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