Putin: I can destroy any building in Kyiv city centre, but I won't. Why? I will not say

Russian President Vladimir Putin assures that he can "destroy any building in the centre of Kyiv" without nuclear weapons, but does not do this "for a number of reasons"; yet, the Russian dictator refused to reveal those reasons.

Source: Putin at the St Petersburg Economic Forum on 16 June

Quote: "If we destroyed five Patriot systems near Kyiv, what would stop us from destroying any building or structure in the centre of Kyiv? There are no such restrictions. We don't do that for a number of reasons."

Details: Responding to a question on why won’t the Russians do it,  Putin replied: "There are many of them [reasons – ed.]. I'll tell you later."

Quote: "But we can do that. Everyone understands this. Everyone is just waiting for us to start pressing the buttons [to use nuclear weapons – ed.], but there is no such need. This is the first reason – there is no such need, because the enemy has no successes on the frontline."

According to Putin, the attacks on Russian territory are intended to provoke Russia to retaliate, so that others can "point fingers at us and say: ‘look how evil they are’, and to point this out to all our partners."

Reference: The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed the alleged destruction of a Patriot anti-aircraft missile system in Kyiv by a Kinzhal hypersonic missile system. The Ukrainian Air Force denied this statement.

The White House said it could not confirm reports of the destruction of the Patriot system in Ukraine. At the same time, the United States admitted that the system could be damaged.

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