While the West remained paralyzed by Putin's "red lines" bluff, Russia has escalated far beyond what Ukraine's allies had dreaded to witness behind the facade.
Following a wave of 125 drone attacks on Russian territory, for which Russia blames Ukraine, the spokesman Peskov emphasized that recent events should not be misconstrued as meeting the threshold for nuclear retaliation, despite the updates in Russia's nuclear policy.
"Putin regularly makes many false comments... nothing he says will change our positions as long as he continues this illegal aggression," EU spox said.
With the new school year approaching, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba emphasized the urgent need to protect Ukrainian cities and children from Russian missile attacks.