Russia has been engaged for a week in new “massive” strikes in Ukraine. Spared for several months, the country’s capital was once again the target of fire, leaving several dead and many injured. This Monday, October 17, these are “energy infrastructure” in kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy, which were targeted by Russian forces causing major power cuts . “Hundreds of localities are without electricity,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal said.
For the former colonel of the Belgian army Roger House , these new attacks are part of the “new strategy” of the Kremlin, in response to the Ukrainian counter-offensive. By now attacking energy or even economic infrastructure, “Russia is sending a double signal: it is showing Ukrainian citizens that it can make their lives miserable and it is proving to the Ukrainian government that Russia still has a lot of resources to harm the country”, explains the defense specialist to the VRT.
Towards a changeover?
Vladimir Putin would thus hope to undermine the morale of the troops, by “establishing a climate of terror” as Nicolas Gosset affirmed to our colleagues from the DH . If the eight months of conflict have so far not overcome the determination of the Ukrainian soldiers, Mr. Housen believes that we could see a changeover in the months to come. Such a change could come “when it starts to get really cold, when food becomes increasingly scarce, when people have no income due to the destruction of economic infrastructure and when things get really catastrophic. “, according to the expert.
It is therefore to be expected that the Kremlin will continue its massive strikes unabated in the coming weeks, if not months. “The escalation has only been going on for a good week. The Russians will keep hammering on this nail,” predicted Housen on VRT.