After Russia’s repeated terrorist attacks on Kyiv, it appears that Ukraine now needs to strike the Russian capital, Moscow. The West must finally understand that the Russian Federation isn’t waging a conventional war – it’s carrying out terrorist attacks on Ukrainian civilians, which are clear and obvious war crimes, while Putin’s top ally plays golf with visible enthusiasm.

The main difference between Kyiv and Moscow is simple: Ukraine hits Russian military targets, while Russia targets civilians. This raises a fair point – political buildings in Russia should now be seen as legitimate military targets for Ukraine. This especially applies to political-military sites in Moscow, like the presidential administration, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the State Duma.

It can hardly be considered right that when Ukraine strikes airfields and military bases, the terrorist state of Russia responds by bombing apartment buildings. The inaction of U.S. President Donald Trump makes him complicit with Putin, and America must finally recognize that.

Because of this inaction, Russia will keep targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, no matter what Ukraine does, since Putin is prepared to take as many peaceful Ukrainian lives as it takes to stay in power.

With every Russian strike, residential buildings are set on fire again. Russia uses terrorist attacks in this war, attacks that are war crimes, as a strategic advantage, while the United Nations keeps looking the other way.

Moscow has planned everything carefully. The main reason most Russians still support the war is because they remain safely out of missile range.

While Ukrainians follow rules of war and aim only at military targets, Russia does the opposite, it bombs civilians to pressure Ukraine into surrender. As a result, in Russia, mostly the military suffers; in Ukraine, the entire nation does.

The Kremlin benefits enormously from Putin’s use of state terrorism against Ukrainians. By terrorizing civilians, Russia is trying to spread fear and panic. If Ukrainians are serious about winning, then one key step is making ordinary Russians feel that this Putin’s war affects them too.

That doesn’t mean Ukrainians should copy Russian tactics and start bombing residential areas. That’s what Putin’s regime does and then spins excuses to the UN, claiming Ukrainians put military targets in schools, kindergartens, or hospitals.

Ukraine can’t force the Kremlin to limit itself to military targets. Putin is convinced he can win by killing civilians. Hundreds of missiles, bombs, and drones are his regular “bloody messages” to Ukrainians.

And the distortion of truth in Russia’s war narrative is staggering. When Ukraine hits military targets, it’s called «terrorism». But when Russia bombs apartment blocks, schools, and train stations, it’s called «retaliation». A large chunk of the Russian population probably believes that Ukraine invaded Russia because that’s what they’re being told around the clock. Everything is playing out exactly as Orwell described.

Putin has shown that human life means nothing to him, and anything short of total victory, no matter the cost is unacceptable. So isn’t it time Ukraine focused more on Moscow, the Kremlin, and beyond?

To begin with, let’s not forget about the administration of the governor of Belgorod region or the government of Kursk region. These are the local structures that dutifully carry out the criminal orders of the Russian dictator, who is obsessively fixated on destroying the Ukrainian state. That makes them fully legitimate military targets too.

Given this, isn’t it time for Ukraine to expand its list of potential military targets inside the Russian Federation? It’s only logical that regional and district administrations under Putin’s totalitarian regime also bear direct responsibility for executing the crimes of their Kremlin boss. And no excuses like «what could we have done» should count here.

So now, Russia’s entire administrative infrastructure should automatically be considered a military target. After all, it’s through this structure that the Kremlin’s criminal decisions are carried out on the ground. Without his vast bureaucratic machine, the Russian dictator wouldn’t be able to continue his war against Ukraine.

Putin doesn’t want peace with Ukraine – otherwise, he wouldn’t have attacked. Moscow’s fake «peace talks» were never going to end any other way than with predictable failure. And Putin plans to continue his terrorist bombings, firing blindly at Ukrainian cities.

That’s why not just Russian military forces, but also Putin’s administrative staff and the buildings they occupy are valid wartime targets. In war, those are legitimate military objectives.

The Russian dictator’s terrorist strategy is based on absurd claims that he «has no choice» because Ukraine refuses to surrender. So he says he’s forced to attack not just key infrastructure like energy and water systems, but also civilian targets, apartment blocks, schools, hospitals, metro stations.

The Russians are trying to terrorize Ukraine’s civilian population, and we must send a clear message to Putin’s officials that they are not untouchable. That this war could show up at their desks too, no matter how safe they think they are under Putin’s protection and promises.

But if Putin’s administrators had opened a history textbook, they’d know that no one has ever won a war by bombing civilians. Taking part in running Putin’s war machine clearly qualifies as complicity in war crimes.

And it doesn’t matter who it is – whether it’s the former «Party of Regions» deputy in Crimea’s Armiansk City Council, Valentin Demidov, now mayor of Belgorod, or the acting governor of Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, or any other high-ranking official. For war crimes, even those ordered by Putin, every one of them will have to answer.