MYKOLAIV – Shortly after the resolution of the European Parliament on Russia “state sponsor of terrorism acting by terrorist means”, passed by 494 votes to 58, a mass missile bombardment of Russia began against Ukrainian cities and against the national electricity grid that protects millions of civilians from the cold and the dark. The effects have been devastating.
Almost all of Ukraine was left without electricity and without running water, including the capital Kiev under the snow, the cities of Odessa and Mykolaiv in the south, Lviv in the west, Kharkiv in the east. A missile hit a maternity ward near the city of Zaporizhzhia and killed a newborn: the mother and three hospital staff were pulled alive from the rubble. The Energy Ministry said that “the majority of Ukrainian utilities are out of power”. Three nuclear power plants have had to resort to diesel generators to cool their reactors, according to the Energoatom agency: thus, instead of supplying energy to the national grid, they have become – for the duration of the blackouts – a problem to manage. The spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharovamade fun of the situation: “I propose to declare the European Parliament sponsor of idiocy”.
These blackouts caused by bombing can last from a few hours to more than a day and are now frequent. Neighboring Moldova also ended up in the dark, because in peacetime it receives 30% of its energy from the Ukrainian grid and 70% from a power plant which, however, is in neighboring Transnistria – therefore controlled by the Russians. The Ukrainians no longer have electricity even for themselves and the Russians are not supplying any to the Moldovans to aggravate the political crisis in Chisinau. “Russia has thrown us into the abyss”, commented the Moldovan president Maia Sandu: “Electricity can be restored, all institutions are working towards this goal. But we cannot trust a regime that purposely leaves us in the cold and in the dark and kills people for the mere desire to keep other peoples in poverty and in humiliation. Moldova’s future must remain in the direction of the free world“.
Exactly one week ago, Russia launched another massive ninety-six missile raid. This time according to the Ukrainian Defense used sixty-five, 31 only against the capital Kiev – and of these 21 were intercepted. The Russians use the tactic of saturation, launching many missiles at once to deceive the Ukrainian defenses, and the fact that a third of the bombs evade interception and hit the target is a very bad sign for Ukraine. It means that the missile defense umbrella provided by Western governments in Kiev works but only partially – not enough to ensure normal life in the capital.
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Thus, the plans of President Putin and General Surovikin are beginning to materialize, who for two months have been ordering bombings against Ukraine’s electricity grid to raise the level of suffering of civilians and make cities uninhabitable when winter arrives. The Ukrainians will not be able to continue to restore the normal operation of electricity forever and faster than Russian missiles, there is the concrete risk of a new mass exodus towards an illuminated and heated Europe (and Russia expects a political impact from this).
Furthermore, the images of dark and cold cities are a good theme for the Kremlin’s propaganda, which has to find something to hold on to after the sequence of military defeats, the loss of some territories already annexed and the scenes of panic triggered by the forced recruitment of 300 thousand citizens of Russia. Finally, Moscow needs a minimum of negotiating power to sit down at the negotiating table sooner or later; in the absence of anything else, energy blackmail could be a starting point.