Putin threatens Kyiv decision-makers after striking energy grid | Global News Avenue

Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to attack the decision-making center of Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, with the country’s new Oreshnik ballistic missile.

Putin made the remarks during a visit to Kazakhstan, hours after Russia launched a “comprehensive” overnight attack on Ukraine’s energy grid, leaving more than one million people without power. There were no fatalities.

“This is a response to the continued attacks on our territory by Atak missiles,” Putin said.

Ukraine last week carried out its first strikes on Russian territory since a full-scale invasion in February 2022, using Atak and Storm Shadow missiles, after receiving approval from Western suppliers the United States, Britain and France.

The Russian nighttime attack lasted several hours, with waves of drones and missiles flying across Ukraine, the second such attack this month.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said cluster munitions specifically target civilian and energy infrastructure.

“These cluster munitions make it harder for our aid workers and energy workers to neutralize the impact of the strike,” he added, calling it a “very despicable escalation” of the conflict.

Putin said Russia launched 90 missiles and 100 drones in response to attacks in Ukraine using weapons supplied by Britain and the United States.

They include “Oreshnik” – A new missile that flies 10 times the speed of sound and – according to Putin – cannot be intercepted.

Putin added that Russia was selecting targets in Ukraine, which could include the decision-making center in Kiev.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry responded: “Putin has shown through these remarks that he is the only one who wants to continue and expand this war.”

According to the official Russian news agency RIA Novosti, the Russian leader stated that Moscow will not allow Ukraine to obtain nuclear weapons and will use “all means of destruction at Russia’s disposal” if it does so.

This is thought to be a reference to a New York Times report last week that unnamed Western officials suggested providing nuclear weapons to Ukraine before U.S. President Joe Biden leaves office in January.

Zelensky has also repeatedly complained that the 1994 Budapest Memorandum deprived Ukraine of necessary security guarantees. Under the memorandum, Ukraine gave up the nuclear weapons it inherited from the Soviet Union.

Russian attacks triggered explosions in several cities including Odessa, Kharkiv and Lutsk.

Kiev was also targeted, but Ukrainian authorities said all missiles aimed at the capital were intercepted.

Kyiv’s military said the attack lasted nearly nine and a half hours.

At least 12 regions in Ukraine were affected, including three western regions, and Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said emergency power outages had been imposed.

Elsewhere, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said a civilian area of ​​the city had been shelled, while Lutsk Mayor Ihor Bolishcu Ihor Polishchuk said he heard multiple explosions. There was a power outage in parts of the city.

Polishchuk said trolleybuses in Lutsk had stopped running, and Oleksandr Koval, head of the Rivne city government, said power supply to more than 280,000 people in the western region had been cut off.

In the Lviv region, as many as 523,000 homes and businesses were without power, according to regional chief Maksym Kozytsky.

Ukrainian authorities responded by implementing pre-emptive emergency power outages to minimize damaging overloads on the country’s power grid.

Temperatures are falling and the country has experienced its first snowfall, but the full force of Ukraine’s famously harsh winter has yet to be felt.

Ukrainian officials have warned for some time that Russia has been stockpiling cruise and ballistic missiles in order to launch a coordinated, nationwide attack on Ukraine’s energy systems.

If Russia continues its nationwide attacks on Ukrainian energy systems as it has in previous winters, the country will once again face a challenging few months.

Earlier this month, Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK said its thermal power plant Suffered ‘significant losses’ resulting in power outage.

DTEK said Thursday’s attack was the eleventh “major attack” the country’s energy system has faced since March.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, its factories have been attacked more than 190 times.

DTEK added that the European Commission and the United States had provided them with up to €107 million (£89 million) in equipment assistance to restore power.

Ukrainian officials fear the latest attacks could herald another coordinated Russian attempt to drain the power grid as winter approaches.

In Kherson, authorities said they could be without power for several days.

already After two and a half harsh winters Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukrainians are preparing for another invasion.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called the attack on the energy industry “depraved” after speaking to Zelensky about the overnight attack.