Fresh Russian strikes hit cities across Ukraine on Thursday, crippling the country’s energy infrastructure and plunging millions into darkness as winter sets in and temperatures drop.
Repeated barrages have disrupted electricity and water supplies across Ukraine, but the Kremlin blamed civilians’ suffering on Kyiv’s refusal to negotiate.
Journalists in several Ukrainian cities said the latest assault coincided with the season’s first snow, after officials in Kyiv warned of “difficult” days ahead.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“Currently, more than 10 million Ukrainians are without electricity,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday, adding that the regions of Kyiv, Odesa, Vinnytsia and Sumy were most affected.
The strikes on Ukraine’s power grid follow a series of battlefield setbacks for Russia, including last week’s retreat from Kherson.
Since Russian forces ended their eight-month occupation of the strategic southern city, chilling accounts have emerged, with Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubynets describing the conditions there as “horrific.”
Lubynets said authorities had uncovered Russian “torture chambers” where dozens of people had been abused and killed.
Kherson residents on Thursday rushed to stockpile food, blankets, diapers and winter clothing, with shouting matches and shoving erupting as volunteers tossed supplies into crowds that had waited hours in freezing rain.
As winter descends, Moscow and Kyiv extended an agreement allowing Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea, after the deal’s looming expiration had sparked fears for the global food supply.
As Russia steps up its aerial bombardment of Ukraine, officials said energy infrastructure and other civilian targets are being barraged.
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Valentyn Reznichenko said strikes had hit the administrative center of Dnipro.
“An industrial enterprise has been hit. There is a big fire,” he said, later announcing that 23 people were injured, including a 15-year-old girl.
“Four missiles and five Shahed drones were shot down over Kyiv,” the capital’s regional administration said, referring to suicide drones Moscow has been deploying in swarms against Ukrainian targets.
Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleg Synegubov said that Russia hit “critical infrastructure” in strikes that injured three people in the region.
Zelenskiy described Russia as a “terrorist state.”
The Kremlin, however, said Kyiv was ultimately to blame for the blackouts for being unwilling to negotiate and find “common ground.”
On Tuesday, the largest onslaught of Russian missiles on infrastructure across Ukraine cut power to millions, but supplies were largely restored within hours.
A cold snap has increased energy demands, and government energy adviser Oleksandr Kharchenko said that half of Ukraine was experiencing disruptions.
Tensions spiked earlier this week after a missile landed in a Polish town on the border with Ukraine, and there was a flurry of accusations over who was responsible for the blast that killed two farm workers.
Reports indicate that it was a Ukrainian missile that went astray. Zelenskiy seemed to soften his comments blaming Russia for the incident, which had raised the specter of forcing a NATO response.
“I don’t know what happened. We don’t know for sure. The world does not know,” Zelenskiy said.
Ukrainian Minster of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba also appeared to roll back Kyiv’s position that it was a Russian missile following a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The conflict also reverberated in European courts this week as a Dutch judge on Thursday sentenced two Russians and a Ukrainian to life in prison over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 people on board.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS