Russian attacks leave Kyiv, other regions in the dark

As Ukraine’s heavy fighting focuses in the east and south, the capital Kiev in the north-central region and surrounding areas are subjected to a different kind of attack – one that relies on suffering and disruption as weapons.

Forced by Russian attacks that destroyed 40% of the country’s energy infrastructure, the Ukrainian electricity company has announced that Kiev and six other nearby regions, including Kharkov, will be shut down. Unplanned emergency outages are also expected.

“We are doing everything we can to prevent this,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko told state media. “But let’s face it, our enemies are doing everything they can to keep the city without heating, without electricity, without water supply in general, so we all die. And the future of the country and the future of each of us depends on how prepared we are for different situations.”

Power cuts caused by Russian drone and missile strikes have hit 16 provinces, forcing officials in Kiev to consider mass evacuations. They plan to build about 1,000 heat shelters, but noted that this may not be enough for the city’s 3 million residents. Average temperatures in Kiev in winter range from the low 20s to the low 30s.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his overnight video address on Sunday that about 4.5 million people had lost power, telling the nation: “We have to get through this winter and be even stronger in the spring than we are today.”

‘A TEST OF OUR SUSTAINABILITY’: Will the brutal winter weather be a game changer for Ukraine or Russia?

Latest developments:

►The Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant was reconnected to Ukraine’s power grid on Sunday, three days after fighting in the region took it offline, forcing the use of emergency diesel generators to keep vital cooling systems running.

►Russian officials continue to evacuate the occupied city of Kherson to the south and send warning messages by phone on Sunday telling residents to move to the eastern bank in anticipation of a major battle with the Ukrainian army. Russian troops, though less visible, “have dug in there quite vigorously,” said Nataliya Humenyuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s Southern Armed Forces.

►The 15,000 remaining residents of the eastern city of Bakhmut have been living for months under sustained shelling that has increased in recent weeks, leaving them without water or power, local media reported.

Iran admits sending Russia drones, claims it was for war

Iran has backtracked on its denials that it supplied drones to Russia, casting doubt on other statements qualifying the admission.

“We gave a limited number of drones to Russia months before the war in Ukraine,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told reporters in Tehran on Saturday.

Amirabdollahian added that Iran was not aware that Russia was attacking Ukraine with the drones, adding: “If it is proved to us that Russia has used Iranian drones in the war against Ukraine, we will not be indifferent to this issue.”

That goes against Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards who vaguely brag about supplying drones to the world’s top powers.

Since last month, Russia has been embroiled in a campaign to destroy Ukrainian power plants and other civilian targets, relying on exploding drones that can cost as little as $20,000 each or 50 times less than a cruise missile. Russia has renamed the drones, but there is evidence that they are Iranian-made Shaheds.

Both Russia and Iran, which insisted on remaining neutral on the war, had refused any shipment of the unmanned aerial vehicles. The US and its Western allies in the UN Security Council have called on Secretary General Antonio Guterres to investigate whether Russia has used Iranian drones to attack civilians in Ukraine.

“The whole world will know that the Iranian regime is helping Russia prolong this war,” Zelenskyy said on Sunday.