“We are preparing to respond,” declared Volodimir Zelensky.
The Ukrainian city of Kherson, in Russian hands, has been deprived of water and electricity since Sunday after a bombardment attributed to the Ukrainian troops, who are carrying out a counteroffensive in the south of the country. “A terrorist attack, organized by the Ukrainian side, damaged three concrete poles of high-voltage lines on the Berslav-Kajovka axis,” the Russian occupation authorities said on Telegram. “Currently there is no water or electricity in the city or in some districts in the region,” they added.
This is the first time that Kherson, occupied by Russian troops shortly after the start of the Ukraine invasion in late February and annexed by Moscow in September, has been deprived of such vital services. According to a representative of the emergency services, quoted by Russian news agencies, “more than ten towns in the region are without electricity.”
In recent weeks, Russia has evacuated tens of thousands of civilians from Kherson to turn it into a “fortress” against the advance of a rapid Ukrainian counteroffensive. “We are aware that the terrorist state is concentrating forces and means for a possible repetition of massive attacks against our infrastructure, in particular, energy,” said Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky in his daily afternoon speech, alluding to Russia. “Specifically, Russia needs Iranian missiles. We are preparing to respond,” he added.
Until now, Ukraine had focused its attacks on the supply lines of the Russian army and only rarely bombed civilian infrastructure in occupied areas. Russian bombing, meanwhile, destroyed 40% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing numerous blackouts and water cuts in several regions, including kyiv, the capital.
kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said he does not rule out a complete blackout in the capital. “We are considering various scenarios to support it and be prepared,” he noted. Shortly before, the Russian occupation authorities reported a Ukrainian shelling of the Kajovka dam, about 60 km from Kherson.
“Today at 10:00 (08:00 GMT) six Himars missiles were launched. Air defense units shot down five, including one that hit the Kajokva dam lock, which was damaged,” said a representative of the Kherson region emergency services. “A missile hit but did not cause critical damage,” said Ruslan Agayev, a representative of the Russian-installed administration in Nova Kakhovka. The hydroelectric dam of this city, installed on the Dnieper River, supplies water to the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014 by Moscow.
Since July, the United States has delivered Himars missiles to Ukraine with much greater precision than the Soviet-made ones used until now. Both Ukraine and Russia have warned since October of the risk of bombing this strategic dam. Two weeks ago, the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, accused Moscow of wanting to attack the dam with explosives. Russia called those accusations “lies.” The Russian occupation authorities have been carrying out “evacuations” of civilians in the towns near the dam for three days, in the face of a “possible missile attack” that could lead to “the flooding of the left bank” of the Dnieper. Ukraine describes these evacuations as “deportations” of Ukrainians to territories less exposed to fighting or even to Russia.
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