In apparent retaliation for its soldiers being defeated in the east, Russia detonated power facilities in Ukraine overnight, knocking off electricity for a third of the nation.
According to President Zelensky’s advisor Mykhailo Podolyak, strikes on Kharkiv’s biggest power plant resulted in partial blackouts in Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Sumy as well as the loss of electricity in Kharkiv and Donetsk.
Water supplies were cut off by separate attacks. The blasts claimed the lives of three persons, according to Ukraine.
Zelensky vowed: “Cold, hunger, darkness, and thirst – for us not as terrifying and dangerous as your “friendship and fraternity”.” Mr. Podolyak called it “a coward’s reaction to the departure of [Russia’s] own soldiers from the battlefield”.” Everything will fall into place over time. And we shall have water, electricity, gas, and be without you!
It happened after the Ukrainian army launched a dramatic counter-attack over the weekend, attacking from the east out of Kharkiv, cutting through weakly fortified Russian lines, routing Putin’s forces, and gaining more than 1,000 square kilometres of land.
As of Monday morning, Ukraine had control of Izyum, the starting point for the Donbas operation, Vovchansk, which is just a few kilometres from the Russian border, and Kup’yansk, a crucial logistical centre with railway connections used to feed its soldiers in the Donbas.
The Russian defence ministry has made an effort to characterise the loss as a “regrouping” of forces from the adjacent cities of Donetsk and Balakliya to “increase operations in the region.”
However, British intelligence reported on Monday that a general withdrawal had probably been ordered from the whole Kharkiv region, despite the fact that Ukraine had retaken a territory during the weekend that was twice the size of Greater London.
The Financial Times was informed by Petro Kuzyk, a commander whose soldiers took part in the operation, that the Russians had left so quickly that dinners were still on the tables when his men arrived.
We anticipated success, but we didn’t anticipate such cowardly behaviour, the man remarked. They gave up their tanks and other equipment, even grabbing bicycles to flee.
Our operation was made simpler by the fact that the Russian army was utterly destroyed; they ran away like Olympic sprinters.
Analysts have lauded the stunning action as one of the most successful counteroffensives in recent history, one that will be studied for years to come.
In addition to increasing strain on soldiers defending against a second Ukrainian counterattack in the south, it puts Vladimir Putin’s forces throughout the whole eastern front in actual danger of being defeated.
Zelensky informed Putin during the blackouts that “even through the impenetrable darkness Ukraine and the civilised world can see these terrorist deeds.”
“Deliberate and cynical missile assaults on essential infrastructure for the general public. Not one single military installation.
Do you still believe that we are a single people? Do you really believe you can scare us, overwhelm us, or prod us into action? Really, do you not comprehend anything?
You don’t know who we are, do you? What do we serve? What are we discussing? Examine my lips: Gas-less or without you? lacking you.
Without you or without the light? lacking you.
Without you or without the water? lacking you.
Food-wise or without you? lacking you.
For us, your “friendship and fraternity” are more terrifying and lethal than the cold, hunger, darkness, and thirst.
But history will arrange everything. Without you, we will have food, water, lighting, gas, and other necessities.
Videos depict the power outages caused by strikes that left roughly a third of Ukraine in the dark.
Videos revealed a strike on a crucial power facility in the Kharkiv area and the city’s subterranean train system was completely paralysed.
A power plant in Vilnohirsk, Dnipropetrovsk area, had flames visible.
Bridget Brink, the US ambassador to Kiev, condemned the attacks and described them as Putin’s “apparent retaliation to Ukraine freeing towns and villages in the east.”
Russia has “tried to destroy important civilian infrastructure” with missile attacks.
According to Russian authorities, the assaults on Kharkovskaya and Zmievskaya, the two biggest thermal power facilities in eastern and central Ukraine, resulted in a shortage of producing capacity.
The strike was intended to injure people since the facilities supply central heating to Ukrainian houses.
The pro-war Rybar station said that “the failure of the electricity grid has extended to the networks of the Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye, and Odessa areas.”
“It also hit the Kyiv region and the country’s capital, as well as the Donetsk territories held by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
Rybar’s pro-war Telegram channel stated that electric trains had halted “nearly all across the nation” and that many trolleybuses in Poltava had caught fire in the middle of the street. This allegation mirrored calls from other hardliners for even more ferocious strikes.
This action sends a clear message to hotheads who make obnoxious comments in the face of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s dominance in the Kharkiv area.
Therefore, the effect on the enemy’s vital infrastructure must persist.
And not only at thermal power plants and substations, but also at Dnieper crossings,
In the greatest loss for Moscow’s troops since being driven from the outskirts of Kyiv in March, hundreds of Russian soldiers abandoned Izium city, which served as a supply base for Putin’s forces, leaving behind weapons and equipment.
Margarita Simonyan, a Putin supporter, said on Facebook: “What happened to your vitality and brightness, neighbours?
In response to the devastating setback in the Kharkiv area, Russian state TV propagandists began a game of finger-pointing on the war’s failure.
‘Individuals who persuaded President Putin that the special operation would be rapid and successful [and] we won’t attack the civilian population, we’ll come in, and our National Guard… will bring things to order — these people truly set us all up,’ former MP Boris Nadezhdin openly told viewers.