President Vladimir Putin has warned Russians they must be 'prepared for anything' as he hinted at escalating his war against Ukraine.
The leader gave no hope of an early end to the four-year-long conflict while speaking at Russia's Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.
'We must be prepared for anything,' he said when asked if the current long fuel queues, caused by Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries, would subside.
'Only our readiness for anything will give everyone who wants to harm us an understanding that it is better not to do so,' he said.
He also vowed 'to launch retaliatory strikes' on Ukraine so they 'don't dare to harm us again' with more oil refinery strikes that have crippled his fuel supplies.
The Russian leader's menacing warning comes as the country has been facing a difficult summer, with nightly swarms of Ukrainian drones striking oil refineries, as well as setting ablaze retail warehouses.
In response, Russia has been ramping up its air war on Ukraine, with Moscow's forces recently hitting food storage depots, leaving supermarket shelves empty, while also targeting civilians.
Putin also ruled out peace talks and accused Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky of 'state terrorism'.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum, on September 3, 2026 in Vladivostok, Russia, where he warned Russians that they must 'prepared for anything'
File image: Devastating Ukrainian strikes tear through two giant Russian logistics hubs in Elektrostal near Moscow
'We don't negotiate with terrorists,' he said, citing Ukraine's recent long-range drone strikes.
Over 43,000 Ukrainian drones were intercepted over Russia and the illegally annexed Crimea from June to August, according to Russia's Defence Ministry.
Ukraine has not disclosed how many drones it launches, but Zelensky has talked about expanding the strikes, which he calls 'long-range sanctions.'
Officials in Kyiv say they will continue trying to pressure Russia into ending the war, even as Moscow intensifies its bombardment of Ukraine.
Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials maintain Russia is planning another mobilisation after the country's legislative elections later this month.
Putin rejected the claims, saying they were 'an information attack by the enemy.'
Meanwhile, NATO leaders have warned that Moscow is already waging an increasingly aggressive 'hybrid' campaign of sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation across Europe.
Germany on Tuesday blamed Russia for an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport last month using a drone laden with explosives.
The accusation came a day after Germany was struck by two sabotage attempts, renewing fears that Russia is deliberately targeting Germany through a hybrid campaign aimed at interfering with critical infrastructure.
On Tuesday, a key installation near the Janschwalde coal-fired power plant in Brandenburg was repeatedly targeted with rockets.
Brandenburg's Interior Minister Jan Redmann later called the incident an 'act of sabotage'.
That same evening, police were called to investigate an act of premeditated vandalism on the technical infrastructure of a power substation near the western city of Bergheim.
Germany, which supports Ukraine in its fight against Russia, has long accused Moscow of targeting it with a campaign of hybrid attacks involving espionage and sabotage - charges denied by Russia.
It also comes after Putin yesterday renewed his threats to target Britain – with the taunt that attacks on UK factories were a 'military secret'.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured) believes Russia is planning another mobilisation after the State Duma election
During an interview with Russian state media RT, the Kremlin dictator issued an ominous warning after the UK agreed to supply Ukraine with classified blueprints for long-range missiles last week.
When asked: 'Could British military industrial facilities located on British territory become military targets?' Putin replied with a smirk: 'That's a secret, a military secret.'
He made clear that any 'British military facilities' inside Ukraine were 'absolutely' a Russian target.
The Russian leader was speaking at a nighttime press conference in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, after attending the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) summit.
His taunt was the latest increasingly brazen threat from Moscow to target British military and defence companies after the UK increased its support for Ukraine.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned last week that 'any British military installations and equipment in Ukraine and beyond its borders' could be attacked in retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on Russia using British weapons.