Russia dismisses Zelenskiy's 'bomb shelter' threats to Kremlin officials

MOSCOW, Sept 28 - The Kremlin on Sunday dismissed threats by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Kremlin officials should know where the bomb shelters were, saying that Ukraine was losing the war and that its negotiating position was worsening.

Zelenskiy suggested to Axiosthat the centres of Russian power, like the Kremlin, were potential targets, saying that Kremlin officials "have to know where the bomb shelters are."

"Zelenskiy is trying to demonstrate to the Europeans, who now act as the breadwinners, that he is such a brave soldier," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television.

"Meanwhile, the state of affairs at the front indicates the opposite. With every passing day, the situation for Ukraine is inexorably deteriorating. And every day Ukraine's negotiating positions are inexorably deteriorating."

Russia controls 114,918 square km (44,370 square miles), or about 19% of Ukraine, and has taken 4,729 square km of Ukrainian territory in the past year, according to the pro-Ukrainian DeepState map project.

When asked directly by state television's Kremlin correspondent Pavel Zarubin how the Kremlin would perceive an attack on the centre of Russian power, Peskov said that "it's better not to even talk about it."

In May 2023, Russia accused Ukraine of trying to attack the Kremlin with drones. President Vladimir Putin was not in the Kremlin at the time of the attack.