Kiev: Russia on Thursday attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with 200 missiles and drones. One million homes are without electricity due to attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. This is the second major Russian attack on Ukraine’s power grid in the last two weeks. This raises the possibility that Russia wants to push Ukraine into a power crisis before winter.
Russia had also targeted Ukraine’s power generation capacity in previous years. The goal behind this is to prevent citizens from getting heating facilities and hot water during the winter months. In this way he wants to break the spirit of Ukraine. These attacks have forced Ukraine’s defense industry to increase production domestically. Ukraine’s defense industry produces missiles, drones and armored vehicles as well as other military assets.
Ukrainian President Zelensky said Caliber cruise missiles simultaneously attacked civilian targets in several areas on Thursday. The cluster warheads of these missiles released large quantities of small bombs, posing a threat to civilians even after the attack. Putin claimed that his forces attacked 17 Ukrainian targets, including military facilities and support systems. This attack was carried out with 100 missiles and 90 drones.
It was the 11th largest coordinated attack by Russia on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure this year. The Ukrainian Air Force claimed to have shot down 76 cruise missiles and three other types of missiles and 32 drones. Apart from this, 62 Russian drones have been electronically jammed. Any claims by either party cannot be independently verified.
Ukrainian officials recently warned that Russia was stockpiling cruise and ballistic missiles. It is preparing to conduct a pre-winter air campaign against Ukraine’s power grid. This attack is just the beginning. Ukrainian officials have in the past accused Russia of weaponizing Winter. Such large-scale attacks have become common in war.
More than half of Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure has been destroyed during the nearly three-year war with Russia. Due to this, power failure has become common. Kiev is working with Western allies to protect Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with air defense systems and funding to rebuild it.
