Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has told local officials and infrastructure firms to prepare for a second winter of heavy Russian attacks on the country’s power grid and other key facilities, amid more missile and drone strikes and fierce fighting in the east.
Ukraine shot down two of six missiles and 11 of 12 explosive drones launched by Russia in the early hours of Monday, as officials in the eastern town of Avdiivka said Russia’s bid to storm it had failed, but Kyiv’s military warned of further “powerful” assaults to come.
“We must be aware that there will be more such Russian attacks as winter approaches – on generation facilities and the grid. We must be prepared for this,” Mr Zelenskiy said, as crews worked to repair bomb damage to the electricity network in the eastern Kherson and Donetsk regions.
“We will strengthen our air defence as much as possible… However, a lot will depend on the readiness of local authorities, particularly in cities, and on the preparatory work of energy companies and telecom operators,” he added.
“Everyone has to do their part in defence to prevent Russian terror from stopping Ukraine this winter. Just like on the battlefield, we must be as resilient and strong as possible in all areas.”
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Officials said that Monday’s air strikes targeted regions across Ukraine, and that at least four people were hurt in the Poltava and Kirovohrad regions. At least six Ukrainian civilians were killed over the weekend in Russian shelling and landmine explosions.
Vitaliy Barabash, head of the administration in Avdiivka, said Russian air and ground attacks on the town in Donetsk region were now diminishing after several days of intense bombardment and repeated attempts to storm Ukrainian positions.
“Over the past two days we’ve been saying that the [Russians] have blown themselves out… They are not yet giving up on attempts to surround the city, but strikes on areas of the community are several times fewer than they were, and the number of aircraft operating is many times smaller,” he told Ukrainian television.
“It is still ‘hot’ in this area, but we’ve noticed a drop in the number of assault operations… We see the enemy is running out of steam. This is especially noticeable in the city itself. Over the past 24 hours, it was almost calm at night… there was no massive shelling.”
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Andriy Sergan, commander of a drone platoon of Ukraine’s 59th separate motorised infantry brigade, said Russia had suffered heavy losses near Avdiivka, which is on the outskirts of the occupied city of Donetsk, but warned that reinforcements were arriving.
“One of their brigades is already finished. Now another brigade has arrived. These are regular military personnel. In principle, we’re expecting a new powerful wave [of attacks],” he said.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in China on Monday and will visit North Korea later this week, his ministry said, amid US claims that Pyongyang is supplying the Kremlin with weapons for use in Ukraine. Russian president Vladimir Putin is scheduled to fly to Beijing on Tuesday for talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
