KYIV, Ukraine – From towns near the front lines to high-rises in the capital, Ukrainians faced shortages of electricity, water and heat on Tuesday as Russian bombardment hit targets. Civil and infrastructure consumption threatens millions of people with the prospect of a desolate winter without service facilities.
The Russian strike heralds a new phase of the war – even as the Kremlin’s forces are grappling on the battlefield, they’re ramping up their efforts to inflict casualties from a distance. Civilians and infrastructure have been targeted since the start of the invasion, but Russia has ramped up long-range attacks deep into Ukraine, focusing on critical utility networks whose collapse would lead to a new kind of humanitarian disaster there.
Since October 10, Russian attacks have destroyed 30% of Ukraine’s power plants and caused “massive blackouts across the country”, the President Volodymyr Zelensky says on Tuesday. Residents are being urged – in some cases, forced by circumstances – to conserve water and energy. Business is turning off illuminated signs, and billboards are no longer lit at night.
A government minister, Oleksii Chernyshov, said 408 sites in Ukraine were attacked during that time, including 45 energy facilities. Multiple attacks have also hit thermal power plants that generate steam to heat homes and businesses.
Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, World Health Organization Regional Director for Europe: “The destruction of homes and the lack of access to fuel or electricity due to damaged infrastructure can become a problem. life-or-death problem if people can’t heat their homes.” , say on friday.
The United Nations Resident Coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, told CNN on Tuesday that devastation threatens “a high risk of death during the winter months.”
In areas of the capital Kyiv, the authorities warn people not to drink tap water, it was cloudy after being hit by air strikes on Monday. In another neighborhood, a field kitchen was set up to provide food for those without water or electricity. People lined up at stores to refill soft drinks bottles, and electricity suppliers warned that the city would continue to lose power while repairs were underway.
In a neighborhood on the northern outskirts of the city of Chernihiv, residents said there had been several days of uninterrupted power outages from 9am to 6pm to save energy. At one restaurant in the city, a waiter apologized to customers for dim lighting that made menus difficult to see, noting that the establishment was complying with a request to turn off unnecessary lights.
In the central city of Zhytomyr, electric trolleys and trams have been closed because there is no electricity to run them, and the mayor said hospitals are running on emergency backup generators. In some upper floors, the water pressure is so low that only the first few floors have running water.
Russia’s campaign to attack cities far from the frontline goes on even as its forces struggle in eastern and southern Ukraine. Since the beginning of last month, the Ukrainians have been on the offensive, retaking territory captured by Russia this year, although the movement appears to have slowed in recent days.
The Russian position seems especially dangerous in the strategic southern region and in the city of Kherson, which was captured by Moscow’s forces early in the war. Ukrainian forces cut off bridges used to resupply and resupply Russian troops on the West bank of the Dnipro River.
The Russian general leading the war effort, Sergei Surovikin, on Tuesday made a tacit admission that his forces there may have to withdraw, while the Kremlin-appointed area manager said civilians will be evacuated from some areas.
“Our future plans and actions regarding Kherson city will depend on the ongoing tactical-military situation,” General Surovikin said in a televised statement. “I repeat – it has been quite difficult today.”
On Tuesday, Estonia’s defense minister, Hanno Pevkur, warned that General Surovikin could prolong his reputation for ruthlessness by launching more missiles and infrastructure-attack drones. civil and important.
Mr. Pevkur told reporters after meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III in Washington: “For him, civilian life is nothing. “He is ready to continue these kinds of actions against civilians. And the goal is clear. The aim is to put the Ukrainian people under constant terror and intimidation.”
The Kremlin has called the bombing of Ukrainian cities a retaliation for the October 8 attacks. severely damaged single bridge linking Crimea with Russian enclaves to the east – a vital supply route for Russian forces in southern Ukraine was once a pet project of President Vladimir V. Putin.
Ministry of Defense of Russia speak that it has launched long range Tuesday’s attacks targeted “Ukraine’s energy and military control systems,” along with foreign-supplied weapons and military equipment depots. Its claims cannot be independently verified.
And for the first time, Russia used multiple drones, many of them bought from Iran, rushes to the target and detonates their warhead on impact. Ukrainian forces claim to have shot down most of the drones, but enough to penetrate air defenses to cause significant damage, prompting the Ukrainians to reevaluate their tactics. Drones, which are cheap, are usually launched by dozens.
On the ground, anti-aircraft fire – from sophisticated missile batteries to soldiers’ rifles – was unexpectedly imported as Ukraine scrambled to create an intensive anti-drone campaign. .
In Washington on Tuesday, Brig. General Patrick S. Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, condemned Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s power grid, saying that the Kremlin is “clearly trying to inflict pain on civil society as well as pain.” trying to influence Ukrainian forces.”
“But what we’ve seen so far is that Ukraine is resilient and has the ability to get things like their grid back online quickly,” General Ryder told reporters. “In the meantime, we will continue to focus on working with them to determine what their needs are, including things like air defense.”
Ballistic missiles traveling at thousands of miles per hour are difficult to intercept. Cruise missiles, flying at a few hundred miles per hour, are easier to hit but flying very low, can be harder to detect. Drones usually don’t travel above 100 miles per hour, making them fairly easy to shoot down. The challenge lies in their numbers.
A Ukrainian pilot has been hailed as a hero after shooting down five Iranian-made drones and two cruise missiles during a sortie last week, only to collide with debris from one. drones mid-air, forcing him to eject from his disabled MiG-29 fighter jet. His plane crashed, damaging several houses and a power line, but causing no injuries.
“In a short time, we are adapting to this weapon and starting to destroy it successfully,” the pilot, who only identified himself by his nickname, Karaya, later told local media.
NATO countries have already delivered to Ukraine air defense systems effective against drones and will send more in the coming days, the alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said Tuesday at a conference in Berlin.
According to mayor Vitali Klitschko, on Tuesday, in Kyiv, one of the cities rocked by the explosions, explosions hit a district on the east bank of the Dnipro. Officials said the attack killed at least five people and destroyed electricity and water systems in parts of the city.
Mr Klitschko said that an “object of critical infrastructure” was hacked, but did not elaborate. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a senior official in Mr Zelensky’s office, said that at least three strikes hit an energy site, resulting in “serious damage.”
In Mykolaiv, a southern city, a Russian missile destroyed a residential building and a flower market, killing one man, according to Vitaly Kim, the area manager. He said the attack was carried out with an S-300 anti-aircraft missile.
According to Western analysts, Russia’s increased use of drones and alternative weapons such as anti-aircraft missiles to attack ground targets shows that the country’s forces are lacking in missiles. cruise fire and precision-guided ballistics were their preferred weapons for long-range attacks.
Ukrainian and allied officials say that the new focus on bombing cities shows that the Kremlin, unable to defeat the Ukrainian army, has turned to trying to destroy Ukrainian society and its will to protest.
For many Ukrainians, the reaction so far has been on par with fear, with people running out of basements and subway stations once the sirens of the airstrikes stopped and went on for their lives. their.
Report contributed by Richard Pérez-Peña from New York, Eric Schmitt from Washington, Ivan Nechepurenko from Tbilisi, Georgia, and Michael Schwirtz and Oleksandra Mykolyshyn from Kyiv, Ukraine.
