UKRAINE: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, has warned of future Russian missile attacks on his nation and urged its inhabitants to be ready to bear a new week of strain on the electrical infrastructure.
The warning came on Sunday as the capital has started experiencing the onset of winter after snow fell in Kyiv and temperatures dropped to just above freezing point, with fog forecast overnight.
Despite reports that workers were close to completing the restoration of heat, water, and power, some blackouts had to be implemented because of high demand. Millions of people in and around Kiev were interrupted by Russian airstrikes in waves.
“We understand that the terrorists are planning new strikes.” “We know this for a fact,” Zelensky stated in his nightly video address, adding that “as long as they have missiles, they, unfortunately, will not calm down.”
The upcoming week, as per Zelenskyy, could be just as challenging as the previous week, when attacks on the nation’s electricity infrastructure caused the most severe power outages for Ukrainians since Russian troops invaded the country in February.
However, Zelenskyy’s claims received no immediate response from Moscow. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Moscow has insisted that it does not target the civilian population.
The Kremlin claimed on Thursday that Kyiv could “end the suffering” of its people by complying with Russia’s requests.
In September, Russia annexed large portions of Ukraine’s east and south, and President Vladimir Putin has stated that Moscow’s territorial claims are non-negotiable.
Following the annexation, Zelensky said that he would not engage in negotiations with Moscow and stressed that the territorial integrity of Ukraine could not be negotiated.
Sunday was relatively calm, with no fatal attacks in Kyiv or any other major cities. As per the central army command of Ukraine, Russian forces fired multiple shots and conducted four missile attacks at civilian areas in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
However, the situation along the front lines in several regions of Ukraine remained tense, Zelensky stated in his nightly address. Demand for power increases as temperatures drop.
Ukraine’s cold weather is gradually boosting energy needs as workers struggle to repair damaged power facilities, grid operator Ukrenergo stated.
Following Russia’s missile attacks on Wednesday, electricity producers are still unable to restore a complete power supply and are forced to impose blackouts in order to save energy, it claimed.
Ukrenergo stated on Telegram that the consumption-limiting regime is still in place because of a capacity shortfall that is currently at around 20%.
Ukrenergo’s top executive described the damage to power-generating facilities as “colossal” last week.
In recent weeks, Moscow has targeted critical infrastructure with waves of airstrikes that have killed civilians and caused extensive power outages.
Last Wednesday’s fresh strikes caused the worst destruction to date in the nine-month conflict, which left millions of people without heat, light, or access to water as the temperature dropped below zero (32 Fahrenheit).
Zelenskiy asserted that utilities and emergency teams were working round-the-clock to restore power, with the situation “under control,” though most areas of the country were subject to scheduled blackouts to aid in restoring the grid.
Yaroslav Yanushevych, the regional governor, claimed that 17% of Kherson’s customers, a city in southern Ukraine from which Russian troops departed last month, now have power. In the coming days, other districts will be connected.
Zelensky, as well as utility officials, have issued continuous warnings to consumers to conserve power.
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