Russian President Vladimir Putin is intent on using frost, snow and ice to his advantage on the battlefield and against Ukrainian civilians facing a winter of unreliable energy for heat amid unrelenting Russian bombings, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday.
That is why NATO’s allies are stepping up their support to Ukraine, Stoltenberg said on the eve of NATO foreign ministers meeting in Bucharest, Romania.
“President Putin is now trying to use the winter as a weapon of war against Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said. “This is horrific and we need to be prepared for more attacks.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russian troops were preparing new strikes.
“As long as they have missiles, they won’t stop, unfortunately,” Zelenskyy warned. “The upcoming week can be as hard as the one that passed.”
Latest developments:
►Zelenskyy acknowledged that the situation at the front remains “very difficult,” and most difficult in the Donetsk region. The Donetsk is part of the eastern Donbas region that Russia has claimed to annex.
►Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that Russian forces will leave the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Petro Kotin, head of Ukraine’s state nuclear energy operator Energoatom, said last week the company saw signs Russia was preparing to leave the battered plant.
RUSSIA MAY BE PREPPING TO ABANDON NUKE PLANT:Russian says troops need more docs, equipment: Ukraine updates
Kyiv prepares for evacuations as bombings intensify
Some of Kyiv’s 3 million people might need to be evacuated to places where essential services would be less prone to shutdowns caused by Russia’s intensifying missile attacks, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Monday. Russia has pounded energy facilities around Kyiv with a barrage of missile strikes, resulting in power outages and disruption in water supplies to the city. Klitschko said the “worst-case scenario” can’t be ruled out and preferred the term “relocation” as opposed to evacuation.
“There will not be a complete evacuation. Perhaps a partial one,” Klitschko told the Ukraine media outlet RBC. “This is a temporary relocation of certain categories of people to the suburbs, where there may be services.”
Ukraine brings back rolling outages, citing demand because of cold weather
Ukraine’s state grid operator Ukrenergo resumed emergency cut-offs across the country Monday, citing the need to balance the power system and ease network emergencies. The company said in a statement that consumption continues to rise because of deteriorating weather conditions. The power deficit was at 27%. The company described damage to its system from Russian rocket attacks as “massive” but added that repairs are ongoing around the clock.
“Once the causes of emergency outages are resolved, the blocs will return to work, reducing power shortages and consumer limitations,” the company said.
Contributing: The Associated Press
