Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky reported on Tuesday, October 18th, 2022, that Russian forces have destroyed about a third of Ukrainian power stations during the past week. He said this as Putin’s forces continue to rain missiles on vital infrastructure, a move that Kyiv and the West have termed a campaign aimed at intimidating civilians. In a tweet, Zelensky said that since October 10th, about 30 percent of the power stations in Ukraine had been destroyed, which has led to huge blackouts all over the country.
The missiles have hit power stations found in Kyiv, killing three people in the process: Kharkiv on the east, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro on the south, and Zhytomyr on the West. They have caused blackouts and led to the knocking out of water supplies, and in addition, one man was reported dead in Mykolaiv in his destroyed flat.
The Russian government has openly targeted the energy infrastructure of Ukraine using waves of drone strikes and missiles since the beginning of the last week. President Vladimir Putin has said this is a retaliatory action following Ukrainian forces blasting a bridge.
In support of Kyiv, the West has termed intentional attacks on civilian infrastructure a war crime. The attacks aim to ensure that Ukrainians are left without power and heat in an incoming winter, which is viewed as a last attempt at escalating a war that his forces are losing.
Reuters reported hearing three explosions in Mykolaiv early Tuesday, where a missile destroyed a building wing, leaving behind a huge crater. The fire crew that reported to the site was seen pulling a dead man’s body from among the rubble.
Zelensky has refused to negotiate with the Russian president, Putin, saying he is the head of a “terrorist state.” He bailed out of negotiations last month after Putin announced that he had annexed four Ukrainian provinces. The Russian president also called into action thousands of reservists while threatening the use of nuclear weapons from mid-September when Ukrainian troops handed his forces humiliating losses on the battlefield.
