Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that, according to information from Ukrainian intelligence, Russia is preparing for new large-scale attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure. He announced this in his evening video address on February 16.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Increased Threat to Energy and the Importance of Air Defense
According to Zelensky, Russian military forces are improving their attack tactics by using combined strikes with various types of weapons, including strike drones, missiles, guided aerial bombs, and multiple launch rocket systems. This creates additional challenges for Ukraine’s air defense system, which must be configured to operate as effectively as possible.
“Air defense needs to be properly configured. Russian attacks are constantly, if one can say so, ‘evolving.’ Evil also evolves. Unfortunately. These are combined strikes that require special protection and appropriate support from partners. Any delay in missile supplies for air defense, any untimely delivery works to amplify the damage from strikes. Everything we discussed in Munich with partners needs to be implemented promptly. It is important that partners do not remain silent,” said the head of the Ukrainian state.
Zelensky emphasized that Russia is trying to use the last days of winter’s cold to inflict maximum pain on the Ukrainian people, specifically targeting critical infrastructure for its attacks.
Russian Attacks and Signs of Genocide
Russian troops continue to carry out missile and drone strikes on cities and towns across all regions of Ukraine. Energy facilities, life support systems, and healthcare institutions are under fire, leading to the population being deprived of electricity, heating, water supply, communication, and medical assistance.
The Ukrainian authorities and international organizations classify such actions by Russia as war crimes and believe they exhibit signs of genocidal acts. Among these signs are targeted strikes on civilian infrastructure, mass public calls for the destruction of Ukrainians, persecution and extermination of individuals with pro-Ukrainian positions in occupied territories, as well as the deportation of children aimed at altering their identity and destroying cultural heritage.
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, obliges member states (currently 149) to prevent acts of genocide and hold accountable those who commit them in both wartime and peacetime. The document defines genocide as actions aimed at the complete or partial destruction of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
Signs of genocide include mass killings, causing serious bodily harm, creating conditions intended for the destruction of a group, the forcible transfer of children, and public incitement to such crimes.
The leadership of the Russian Federation denies its army’s involvement in targeted strikes on civilian infrastructure and harming the peaceful population of Ukraine; however, the facts of mass destruction of hospitals, schools, energy facilities, and water supply systems are evident.