Putin warns Europe that sending troops to Ukraine would trigger direct war with Russia

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian strikes killed eight civilians and wounded dozens more across Ukraine on Saturday, local officials reported, following President Vladimir Putin’s warning that deploying European troops would constitute a direct conflict with Russia.

Ukraine faces mounting pressure as Russia escalates its aerial campaign, employing ballistic missiles and jet‑powered drones to breach defenses. Moscow has intensified strikes on Ukraine’s power grid before winter, a tactic officials say is intended to demoralize the civilian population.

In Zaporizhzhia, Russian drone attacks on a residential area killed two people and injured another, regional head Ivan Fedorov reported late Saturday.

Kryvyi Rih suffered one fatality and three injuries in separate strikes, local authorities said.

A wave of attacks struck Odesa and its environs, wounding 35 people overnight, regional head Oleh Kiper termed a “massive attack.” A residential high‑rise was hit, with its upper floors completely destroyed.

Kramatorsk in the partially occupied Donetsk region saw three people killed when drones struck vehicles, local officials reported. In addition, two more deaths occurred during a Russian strike on a grocery store in the Zhytomyr region.

Separately, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian forces targeted two chemical plants in Russia, located in Samara and Perm. Regional governors did not comment immediately, though independent Russian outlet Astra reported drone strikes on facilities in both areas.

Speaking to reporters at the BRICS summit in India on Friday, President Putin warned that any deployment of European troops into Ukraine would amount to “a war with Russia.”

“If they now consider sending troops into Ukraine, that is a war with Russia,” he added.

Some European leaders have vowed support for a potential peacekeeping mission, a move Moscow has repeatedly labeled unacceptable.

Putin also asserted that Russia poses no threat to Europe, stating, “There is no such threat and never has been.”

“We do not threaten, nor do we intend to threaten, European countries,” he declared.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned Thursday that two incidents at Ukraine’s borders with Poland and Moldova underscored the likelihood of intensified Russian provocation at crossing points with Europe.

Two people were killed in a drone strike on the Starokozache border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, a “direct threat” to a Polish‑Ukrainian crossing point on Wednesday night was averted thanks to coordinated actions between Warsaw and Kyiv, Tusk said.

In a Saturday interview with Deutsche Welle, President Zelenskyy indicated he would meet with Putin should both be invited to the G20 summit in Miami in December.

Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, stated that a possible Russian attendance at the summit had not yet been discussed.

The Kremlin has previously offered that Mr. Zelenskyy could travel to Moscow for a meeting with Putin, a proposal Kyiv has rejected.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov remarked Saturday, “If he really wants to meet with Putin, Putin has already said that he could fly to Moscow.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared Saturday that Russia is “ready for negotiations,” but emphasized that the “special military operation” will not be suspended during any talks.

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