Unless Russia runs out of missiles, Moscow won’t stop strikes: Ukraine’s Zelenskyy
Global News
Ukraine has gained an advantage on the battlefield in part from deploying western rocket systems that allow it to target Russian positions behind the front lines.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Ukrainians to expect another brutal week of cold and darkness ahead, predicting more Russian attacks on infrastructure which would not stop until Moscow runs out of missiles.
Russia has been launching massive missile bombardments on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure roughly weekly since early October, with each attack having greater impact than the last as damage accumulates and winter sets in.
In an overnight address, Zelenskyy said he expected new attacks this week that could be as bad as last week’s, the worst yet, which left millions of people with no heat, water or power.
“We understand that the terrorists are planning new strikes. We know this for a fact,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Sunday. “And as long as they have missiles, they, unfortunately, will not calm down.”
Kyiv says the attacks, which Russia acknowledges target Ukrainian infrastructure, are intended to harm civilians, making them a war crime. Moscow denies its intent is to hurt civilians but said last week their suffering will not end unless Ukraine yields to Russia’s demands, without spelling them out.
In Kyiv, snow fell and temperatures hovered around freezing on Sunday as millions in and around the Ukrainian capital struggled with disruptions to electricity supply and central heating caused by the waves of Russian air strikes.
City authorities said workers were close to completing restoration of power, water and heat, but high consumption levels meant some blackouts had been imposed.
At the front lines, the looming winter is bringing a new phase of the conflict with intense trench warfare along heavily fortified positions, after several months of Russian retreats.