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Putin vows to persist with strikes in Ukraine

Kyiv: The Kremlin said Thursday it's up to Ukraine's president to end the conflict in the country, suggesting terms that Kyiv has repeatedly rejected, while Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to press on with the fighting despite Western criticism.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "(Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy knows when it may end, it may end tomorrow if he wishes so."

Peskov spoke Thursday as Russia freed American basketball star Brittney Griner in a dramatic high-level prisoner exchange, as the U.S. released a Russian arms dealer. Griner's case had become a major inflection point in U.S.-Russia diplomacy amid deteriorating relations prompted by the Ukraine war.

The Kremlin has long said that Ukraine must accept Russian conditions to end the fighting, which is now in its tenth month. It has demanded that Kyiv recognizes Crimea a Ukrainian peninsula which Moscow annexed in 2014 as part of Russia and also recognizes other land gains made by Moscow.

Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials have repeatedly rejected those conditions, saying the war will end when the occupied territories are retaken or Russian forces leave them.

Putin vowed Thursday to achieve the declared goals in Ukraine regardless of Western reaction.

"It's enough for us to make a move and there is a lot of noise, chatter and outcry all across the universe," Putin said. "It will not obstruct us from fulfilling combat tasks."

He described a series of Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy facilities and other key infrastructure as a legitimate response to a bombing attack on a key bridge linking Crimea with Russia's mainland, and other attacks the Kremlin said were carried out by Ukraine. Putin also cited Ukraine's move to halt water supplies to the areas in eastern Ukraine controlled by Russia.

"There is a lot of noise now about our strikes on the energy infrastructure," Putin said at a meeting with soldiers whom he decorated with the country's top medals. "Yes, we are doing it. But who did start it? Who did strike the Crimean bridge? Who did blow up power lines linked to the Kursk nuclear power plant?" Putin particularly praised the Russian air force's performance as "highly efficient."

"The air force has done very well," he said. "It has contributed significantly to the efficiency of the army's action."

Heavy fighting continued Thursday, mostly in the regions annexed by Russia. Zelenskyy's office said 11 civilians were killed and a further 17 wounded in Ukraine on Wednesday.

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