Vladimir Putin is believed to have ordered attacks again on Ukrainian power supplies this winter and Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russia can expect retaliation
Volodymyr Zelensky has threatened “blackouts” in Moscow if Russia aims to cause power cuts in Ukraine by hitting infrastructure.
Ukraine has been bracing itself for a fresh wave of attacks on its power supplies in the lead up to the winter as has been the case previously. In January Russia launched major ballistic and cruise missile attacks across Ukraine, targeting energy production and compelling authorities to shut down the power grid in some areas despite freezing temperatures. And with reports that Russia is again planning a similar policy, Zelensky has spoken out today saying Ukraine would launch reciprocal attacks on Moscow.
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“If they threaten a blackout, for example, in the capital of Ukraine, then the Kremlin should know that there will be a blackout in the capital of Russia. This, in short, is about certain points that we talked about with the president,” said the Ukrainian leader, reports RBC Ukraine.
“Russia should clearly know that civilized countries differ from savage ones in that they never start first and are not aggressors. But this does not mean that they are weak. And there is no need to show weakness.”
Media reports in Ukraine claimed Russia knocked out eight thermal plants and five hydropower facilities last winter, which caused blackouts across the country. And following a partial ceasefire in March, Russia then concentrated on local energy facilities in front-line regions.
Russia hit a thermal power facility in Kyiv Oblast on September 8 causing outages in the region, and Ukrainian officials are now expecting similar attacks. This is backed up by Kremlin sources telling Bloomberg that Putin was set to target energy infrastructure again.
While Ukraine is preparing for the attacks it lacks sufficient air defences from drones and missiles. “Russia fires 20, 30, 40 drones and missiles to simultaneously attack one target. It is extremely difficult to protect our sites,” Maxim Timchenko, CEO of Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK, told reporters at a press briefing on September 10.
Meanwhile, the frontline battlefield in Ukraine has grown in length to nearly 800 miles, stretching Kyiv’s defences, while Russian forces employ a new tactic of sending swarms of small assault groups to infiltrate Ukrainian lines, according to Ukraine’s top military commander.
The line of contact has grown by roughly 120 miles over the past year, and Ukrainian forces are averaging between 160 and 190 combat engagements every day with Russia’s bigger army, General Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
US President Donald Trump, whose efforts to bring an end to the war have made no progress, said last Tuesday that he believed Ukraine could turn the tide and win back all the territory it has lost to Russia, equivalent to around 20% of its land.