Putin trying to use winter as weapon against Ukraine: NATO
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of more missile strikes and urged Ukrainians to prepare for a tough week ahead.
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin is now trying to use the “winter as a weapon of war against Ukraine”, NATO’s chief says as he warns of more attacks on the nation’s power grid.
Hours earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also warned of more missile strikes and urged Ukrainians to prepare for a tough week ahead as critical supplies remain limited.
Russia’s invasion has “increased the real threat posed by weapons of mass destruction”, according to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Russia will likely continue attacking Ukraine’s power
grid, gas infrastructure and essential services for the people, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.
“Doing that when we enter winter demonstrates that President (Vladimir) Putin is now trying to use … the winter
as a weapon of war against Ukraine,” he told reporters at a news conference in Bucharest ahead of a two-day NATO foreign ministers’ meeting.
In its daily briefing, Russia’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) says more than 100
Ukrainian servicemen were killed in a recent battle.
In Dnipro, “eight armoured vehicles and five vehicles were destroyed during loading onto railway transport. In addition, more than 100 Ukrainian servicemen were killed,” the update read.
It added that Russian air defence systems destroyed seven Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the Luhansk, Donetsk and Kherson regions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russia is planning new strikes, urging forces and citizens to be prepared amid freezing temperatures.
“We understand that the terrorists are planning new strikes. We know this for a fact,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Sunday.
“And as long as they have missiles, they, unfortunately, will not calm down.” He added that the coming week could be as difficult as the previous one.
Last week’s air attacks on Kyiv left much of the country without power and water after critical infrastructure was again targeted.