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On the day that Europe began its embargo on Russian oil and the G7 put in place a cap on Russian crude, Ukraine again fell victim to Russian attacks. Several missiles killed two people in the Zaporizhia province as Russia continues to target energy infrastructure. Vladimir Putin also crossed the Crimean bridge on Monday, less than two months after the attack that destroyed a section of the crossing.
Ukraine was the target of new Russian attacks this Monday, December 5. The bombardments affected several regions of the country, such as the capital kyiv, Zaporizhia or Donetsk.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky claimed that Ukrainian air defenses managed to shoot down a large part of the missiles launched by Russia. As indicated by the Ukrainian Air Force, more than 60 of the 70 Russian missiles that Moscow launched from the Black and Caspian seas, and the Rostov region were intercepted.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, visiting Ukraine, had to take cover in an underground shelter in kyiv due to the attacks, according to the UN.
“I was about to meet with human rights defenders on my second day in kyiv, and I had to move that meeting here, to this shelter (…) You can imagine what this means for the population. It has become almost a new normality, but it has a huge impact on the civilian population, and it has to end,” he denounced.
Attacks against civilian infrastructure
According to Ukraine’s power grid operator, Ukrenergo, the country suffered the eighth massive attack on its energy infrastructure on Monday.
Due to the shelling, the water and electricity supply in Odesa (south) was interrupted and electricity and heating in Krivóy Rog (center) were also cut off. In Mykolaiv (south) there was an emergency cut.
In Zaporizhia, which Russia controls 70% but without having taken its capital, the attacks were particularly intense and left at least two dead.
“This time, the occupiers hit the industrial and energy infrastructure of the city of Zaporizhzhia with their cursed missiles,” the mayor of the regional capital, Anatoliy Kurtev, wrote on Telegram.
endure the winter
The increase in attacks on energy facilities in recent weeks has caused significant interruptions in electricity service as winter approaches.
This Monday, the country returned to scheduled power outages instead of the emergency blackouts that have been in place since November 23, when the worst attacks on energy infrastructure recorded since early October occurred.
In kyiv, crowds of people thronged the subway as temperatures hovered around minus 5 degrees Celsius and air defenses were working to combat the attacks.
In his daily address, Zelensky asked the Ukrainians to endure the winter, which “will be difficult” but “no matter how hard it is”, it brings them closer “to victory”.
“It is worth seeing this winter not as a test, but as a time, a time that brings us closer to the main thing, to victory. Each of these 90 days of winter,” said the Ukrainian president.
Putin was on the Crimean bridge
Russian President Vladimir Putin toured the Crimean bridge, on the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, less than two months after an attack that destroyed part of that structure. It was his first visit to the annexed peninsula since the start of the offensive against Ukraine, Russian media reported.
State television showed him driving a Mercedes, inspecting the bridge and asking questions about where the attack took place.
According to Russia, the October 8 bombing was carried out by Ukrainian military intelligence, but kyiv never claimed responsibility for the attack.
The explosion ripped apart a section of the road bridge, temporarily disrupting traffic across the Kerch Strait.
The Crimean Bridge, the largest in Europe, is a pride of Putin, who ordered the construction of the massive structure. Ukraine has vowed to take back Crimea, which depends on the bridge for supplies.
With AFP, EFE and Reuters
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