Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Moscow will respond to Ukrainian attacks on its territory with retaliatory strikes that will be 'several times stronger,' adding that the scope of these responses will widen.

Reuters reported last week, citing three sources close to the Kremlin, that Putin was rejecting calls to negotiate peace with Kyiv, as the latest Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries and ports in Russia strengthened his resolve to continue fighting for now.

Mutual strikes

Earlier on Monday, the Russian Federal Security Service announced it had foiled a series of attempts to launch large-scale Ukrainian attacks using drones on two military airbases deep inside Russian territory.

According to the Sputnik news agency, the service said in a statement that Ukrainian intelligence attempted to bomb the Shagol base in the Ural Mountains and the Ukrainka base in the Russian Far East, noting that the perpetrators were arrested.

It added that Ukraine used balloons and drones to transport containers loaded with drones to Russia's Bryansk region, ahead of their eventual delivery to the two targeted bases.

Russian security accused those it described as 'Kyiv agents' of transporting equipment in cars loaded with household appliances deep into Russian territory, directly towards Ukrainka and Shagol airports, where they were assembled and prepared for use in rented garages.

As the pace of Russian strikes has increased in recent weeks, Kyiv has intensified its drone attacks inside Russian territory, targeting oil facilities and weapons production sites, which has contributed to changing the course of the war.

Ukrainian officials reported that Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine on Saturday killed 8 people and wounded many others.

But Moscow insists it only targets militarily significant sites, denying that it targets civilians.

Ukraine suffers from ammunition shortage

Ukraine is suffering from a severe shortage of ammunition for its systems, and has largely failed to shoot down ballistic missiles, which travel at multiples of the speed of sound, over the past month.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly urged his country's allies to provide more supplies, and has called on Europe to cooperate in developing a ballistic missile defense system.

Ukraine and its key Western allies announced on Monday the formation of an air defense coalition that includes developing a new ballistic missile defense system, as a cheaper alternative to the US Patriot system.

As Ukraine faces increasing exposure to Russian ballistic missiles, leaders gathered in Paris for a summit comprising ten countries, along with about 12 defense sector companies, to proceed with what they called the 'Integrated Ballistic Missile Defense Coalition'.

Leaders of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, and Britain said in a statement that 'this coalition will complement existing ballistic missile defense systems, including sovereign European solutions already obtained or to be obtained by participating countries.'

Zelensky joined about 25 leaders of member states in an expanded summit of the 'Coalition of the Willing,' as part of efforts to formulate a unified stance to present to Russia and provide security guarantees to support any potential peace agreement. Monday's meetings came days after the NATO summit, which sought to demonstrate transatlantic unity and long-term support for Ukraine.