Russia steps up attacks on Ukraine as temperatures drop; Kiev is without electricity and water

As the temperatures in Ukraine decrease to Russia intensifies its attacks on cities as a “weapon of mass destruction”, according to a warning from the president Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday the 22nd. Kremlin wants to turn this winter’s cold into a weapon of mass destruction,” he said in a video message during a meeting of French mayors. “We need many things to survive this winter and we must prevent Russia from turning the cold into an instrument of terror and submission,” he added. Confirming the thoughts of the Ukrainian leader, Russia bombed the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, this Wednesday, 23, and left the city without water and without electricity, after a wave of Russian attacks that also affected other cities in the country, causing the death of at least three people. “Russian terrorists try to destroy Ukraine’s energy supply facilities. Today there were explosions in various parts of the country,” Ukrainian Vice President Kyrylo Tymoshenko lamented on Telegram. “A two-story building was damaged. There are three dead and six wounded,” announced the regional administration of Kiev on Telegram, without giving further details.

In Kiev, the water supply was “suspended” after the attack, local mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram, urging residents to store water. The city of Lviv, in the west of the country, also lost power on Wednesday after the attacks, said its mayor Andriy Sadovy. “The whole city is without power. We are waiting for more information from the experts. There may be interruptions in the water supply,” he reported on Telegram. The attacks also had consequences in neighboring Moldova, where there were “major power cuts”. “Following Russia’s last-minute bombing of Ukraine’s power system, we have mass blackouts across the country,” Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu said on Facebook. Moldova suffers from major energy problems related to the war in Ukraine.

It was not just a lack of water and energy that were recorded, an attack on a maternity hospital in the region of Zaporizhia, southern Ukraine, killed a newborn. “As a result of the attack, a baby born in 2022 died,” the Ukrainian emergency service said. In addition to the baby, the child’s mother and a doctor were in the affected area. The mother was injured, Zelensky said, also on his Telegram account. “The terrorist state continues the war against civilians,” declared the leader of Ukraine, referring to Russia.

*With information from AFP