Lavrov said Zelensky was frightened by Russia's response to the use of long-range missiles

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose term of office expired on 20 May, was afraid of Russia's response to Kiev's use of Western long-range missiles deep into Russian territory. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on 22 November.

The foreign minister pointed out that the Ukrainian leader started "blaming his masters" after Moscow 's response to the strikes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

"As for the reaction to our response. I understand that Zelensky got scared. He began to accuse his masters of leaving him unarmed in the face of such an action on the part of the Russian Federation. Probably, this is a useful result, because anything, but at least to be closer to reality, to feel it on your own skin, it is already useful," he pointed out.

The minister added that he would not speculate whether Ukraine was allowed to use missiles or not. One thing is certain - the Ukrainian leadership allowed themselves, he emphasized.

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On November 19, the Russian military shot down five ATACMS missiles launched by the AFU in the Bryansk Region and damaged another one. Lavrov called it a signal that the West wants to escalate the conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced amirror response in case of an escalation of military action against Russia later on November 21. The head of state specified that the development of domestic medium- and shorter-range missiles is Russia's response to Washington's plans to produce and deploy missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

The AFU is trying to strike Russian territories against the background of the special operation in Donbass, the start of which was announced on February 24, 2022. The decision was taken due to the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.