Mr Zelensky threatens to carry out 'new long-range strikes' deep into Russian territory

Mr. Zelensky made these statements on July 13 after a meeting with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Aleksandr Syrsky and Chief of the General Staff Andrey Gnatov.

"Our units will continue to destroy the occupiers and do everything possible to bring the war to Russian territory. We are preparing our new long-range strikes," Mr. Zelensky wrote on the social network X.

He added that Ukraine is preparing for a visit by US presidential envoy Keith Kellogg and will "work with partners on arms deliveries and expanding joint production of essential defense equipment."

RT said that among recent attacks deep into Russian territory, Ukraine last month targeted military airfields housing strategic bombers in several regions of Russia. Ukrainian drones and missiles have also repeatedly attacked apartment buildings and other civilian infrastructure. According to Moscow, Ukraine was responsible for the passenger train derailment on March 31 that killed seven people.

Kiev's confidence is said to come from new arms pledges from the West. The EU has allocated hundreds of billions of euros in recent months to expand Ukraine's military-industrial complex and support domestic arms production.

Berlin will provide Ukraine with the first batch of German-funded long-range missiles in the coming weeks, said Major General Christian Freuding, who oversees coordination of German military assistance to Kiev.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump also said the Pentagon would resume deliveries to Kiev after weeks of suspension, and is said to be considering approving the first new aid package since he returned to office.

For its part, Moscow has stated that it considers the use of foreign-supplied missiles to be direct involvement of Western countries in the conflict and argues that the Ukrainian military cannot operate these sophisticated weapons systems on its own.