Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukraine is preparing for renewed Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure ahead of the second winter of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of the country – and that the country is ready to counterattack if targeted.
“We are preparing for terrorist attacks on our energy infrastructure,” Zelenskiy said. “This year we will not only defend ourselves, but also respond.”
The warning came as Russia looks for new tools to win dominance over Ukraine in its war, which has lasted more than 20 months along frontlines that have grown increasingly static.
Russia has launched assaults on the cities of Kupiansk in northern Ukraine and of Avdiivka, where commanders said they were worried that Russia was seeking to surround and besiege the well-defended city.
Footage posted on Wednesday showed the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, visiting a command post near the frontlines in eastern Ukraine, where he received a briefing on combat operations planned for the winter months and on training for drone operators, who have become crucial to the war effort on both sides.
Shoigu claimed that the Ukrainian army had “reduced capacity” due to the Russian attack. Meanwhile, footage of the Russian assault indicates high numbers of dead and wounded. British defence intelligence have claimed that Russian casualties have grown by 90% since it began the offensive in Avdiivka and Kupiansk. Little territory has changed hands as a result.
On Wednesday, the Russian parliament approved Moscow’s withdrawal from a global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests, in what Kyiv has called an attempt at “nuclear blackmail”.
Hours later, Putin presided over a test of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces, simulating the launch of nuclear weapons from land, Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bombers, and a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine. Shoigu, who led the exercise, said the task was to “deliver a massive nuclear strike … in response to an enemy nuclear strike”. The exercise, called Grom, is held annually.
After suffering setbacks on the battlefield last year, Russia turned to major strikes against Ukrainian power and hydroelectric plants, substations, heat generation facilities, and other key electricity and water infrastructure in order to cripple the military and plunge the population into darkness.
Last autumn, the average Ukrainian household was left without electricity for weeks due to the strikes, which forced ordinary citizens to cut consumption in order to avoid overloading the power grid. A UN report said that Ukraine’s power-generating capacity had been cut by nearly half by the following April after Russia’s invasion. The country’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said that Ukraine had since repaired 80% of its main power grids and high-voltage stations to their prewar conditions.
Those strikes have resumed, with Russia increasingly relying on drones instead of missiles. On Wednesday, a Russian UAV strike appeared to target the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant in western Ukraine, with nearly 20 people wounded by an explosion and falling debris in the vicinity of the power plant. The attack did not appear to directly strike the power plant but did cut electricity to nearly 1,800 people in nearby towns.
Zelenskiy indicated that Ukraine was prepared to strike back, although it was not clear if he was referring to Russian energy infrastructure or other targets, including military bases and industrial sites.
Ukraine has launched a series of successful raids and strikes against Russian military sites recently, including an ATACMS missile strike on two airfields that Kyiv claimed destroyed at least nine Russian helicopters.
“The enemy knows this well,” Zelenskiy said of Ukraine’s readiness to launch retaliatory strikes. “First, they removed the fleet from Crimea, and now they are moving their aircraft further away from our borders.”
