While heavy fighting in Ukraine is concentrated in the east and south, the capital of Kyiv and its surrounding areas in the north central region have a different type of attack – relying on suffering and disruption as a weapon.
Under pressure from Russian attacks, which have destroyed 40% of the country’s energy infrastructure, Ukraine’s electricity operator has announced a rolling blackout for Kyiv and six other surrounding regions, including Kharkiv. Unscheduled emergency outages are also expected.
“We are doing everything we can to avoid this,” Mayor Vitaly Klitschko told state media. “But let’s be clear, our enemies are doing everything for the city without heat, without electricity, without water supply, in general, so we all die. And the future of the country and each of us.” Our future depends on how prepared we are for different situations.”
Power cuts caused by Russia’s drone and missile strikes have affected 16 provinces and forced the Kyiv authorities to consider a mass evacuation. He plans to set up around 1,000 heating shelters, but noted that this may not be enough for the city’s three million people. The average temperature of Kyiv in winter ranges from under 20 to 30.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Sunday that nearly 4.5 million people had lost power, telling the nation: “We must get through this winter and be even stronger than now in the spring.”
‘The Test of Our Endurance’: Will the brutal winter weather be a game changer for Ukraine or Russia?
latest developments:
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was reconnected to Ukraine’s power grid on Sunday, three days after fighting in the region knocked it offline, forcing the use of emergency diesel generators to keep critical cooling systems running .
Russian authorities continue to evacuate the occupied Kherson city to the south, sending warning phone messages on Sunday asking residents to leave for the east coast in anticipation of a major battle with Ukrainian forces. “Russian troops, although less visible,” said Natalia Humenyuk, spokesman for Ukraine’s Southern Forces, “they have excavated quite powerfully there.”
According to local media reports, the remaining 15,000 residents in the eastern city of Bakhmut have been living under continuous shelling for months, which has intensified in recent weeks, leaving them without water or electricity.
Iran admits to sending drones to Russia, claims it was before war
Iran has denied that it supplied the drones to Russia, raising questions about other statements worthy of entry.
“A few months before the Ukraine war, we gave Russia a limited number of drones,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amirbadollahian told reporters in Tehran on Saturday.
Amirbadollahian said that Iran had no knowledge of Russia’s drone strike on Ukraine, adding: “If it is proved that Russia used Iranian drones in the war against Ukraine, we will respond to the issue.” Won’t be indifferent.”
It flies in the face of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which claims to provide drones to the world’s top powers.
Since last month, Russia has been campaigning to destroy Ukrainian power plants and other civilian targets, relying on detonating drones that can cost as little as $20,000 apiece, or 50 times that of a cruise missile. Russia has rebranded the drones but there is evidence that they are Iranian-made martyrs.
Both Russia and Iran, which insist on remaining neutral on the war, had denied any shipments of unmanned aerial vehicles. The United States and its Western allies at the UN Security Council have asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to investigate whether Russia has used Iranian drones to attack civilians in Ukraine.
“The whole world will know that the Iranian regime helps Russia prolong this war,” Zelensky said on Sunday.
Security officer Sullivan in contact with top Russian aides, report says
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who has warned the Kremlin that using nuclear weapons in Ukraine would have “disastrous consequences” for Russia, held confidential talks with top aides of President Vladimir Putin in an effort to prevent the war from escalating. is of. Expansion, The Wall Street Journal reported sunday.
The talks in recent months were not aimed at negotiating a peace deal, but to maintain open lines of communication and reduce the risk of non-conventional weapons being used in war, the newspaper said, citing US and allied officials. .
sullivan visited Kyiv On Friday and even after Tuesday’s midterm elections expressed America’s “unwavering and unshakable” support for Ukraine.
Deposed another senior Russian commander – the fourth since the start of the war
Russia may expel the commanders of all its military districts before the end of the year.
The latest colonel to be thrown aside was General Alexander Lapin, who was replaced as head of the Central Military District by Major General Alexander Linkov, According to the British Ministry of Defense,
The ministry said that commanders of Russia’s eastern, southern and western military districts have already been removed since the invasion of Ukraine began in February.
“These dismissals represent a pattern of blame against senior Russian military commanders for failures to achieve Russian objectives on the battlefield,” the ministry said. ,
Contribution: The Associated Press
