The Munich Security Conference should focus on Kiev’s “hellish terrorism” and strikes on Russian civilians instead of debating additional military aid to Ukraine, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
The comments come after Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Friday that a Ukrainian attack on the border region killed two people and injured five. He added that the strike knocked out power, heat, and water supplies, with damage also reported to several residential buildings and parked vehicles.
Ukraine has routinely targeted Russian border regions with drones, artillery, and missile strikes since the escalation of the conflict in 2022, killing hundreds of civilians.
In response, Zakharova urged Western leaders attending the Munich Security Conference to address what she described as Ukraine’s indiscriminate attacks.
“The Munich Security Policy Conference should discuss this hellish terrorism against the civilian population by the Kiev regime, rather than ways of pumping money into the ghouls on Bankova Street,” she said, referring to the seat of the Ukrainian government.
The Munich Security Conference opened on Friday with over 60 heads of state attending the three-day gathering. The agenda covers not only the Ukraine conflict but also the widening rift between the US and EU, with Western leaders sounding the alarm over the erosion of the ‘rules-based international order’.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said the rules-based order “no longer exists,” and French President Emmanuel Macron urged Europe to “accelerate its strategic autonomy.”
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky will also deliver an address and hold several rounds of talks, which he said will focus on expanding joint military production.
Russia is ready to discuss establishing “temporary external governance” in Ukraine under UN auspices to facilitate long-overdue democratic elections, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin has said.
In an interview with TASS released on Sunday, Galuzin noted that the idea was first floated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2025, describing it as one possible way to further the peace process.
This step, he said, “would make it possible to hold democratic elections in Ukraine, bring to power a capable government with which a full-fledged peace treaty could be signed, along with legitimate documents on future interstate cooperation.”
“In general, Russia is prepared to discuss with the US, European nations, and other countries the possibility of introducing temporary external governance in Kiev,” he added.
Galuzin acknowledged that while the UN “does not formally have a standardized mechanism” for these types of cases, there are historical precedents.
Moscow proposed the idea of external governance after the expiration of Vladimir Zelensky’s presidential term in 2024. At the time, the Ukrainian leader refused to hold new elections, citing martial law, which prompted Russia to declare him “illegitimate.” Moscow has since said Zelensky’s legal status is a major obstacle to concluding a binding peace deal.
Following US pressure, Zelensky signaled that he is open to having an election, but demanded security guarantees from the West and Russia.
In March 2025, the US dismissed the external management proposal, saying governance in Ukraine is “determined by its Constitution and the people of the country.” Prior to this, however, US President Donald Trump branded Zelensky “a dictator without elections.”
