[World Now] Russia uses the cold as a weapon… the people of Ukraine are upset

The Ukrainian people are deeply troubled by the destruction of infrastructure such as power grids in a Russian missile attack.

As winter approaches, criticism is coming out that Russia is using ‘cold’ as a weapon to break the will of the Ukrainian people to resist.

According to the British daily The Guardian, in Lviv, the largest city in western Ukraine, power and water facilities were destroyed by a Russian missile attack for the second day from the 10th, and 30% of the total area was in a state of blackout.

Residents are more concerned about the cold this winter than Russian missiles, the Guardian said.

The Lviv authorities are asking residents to prepare for winter, saying that in two weeks the night will be longer and the temperature will drop in earnest.

Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadavi said in a meeting with reporters that “probably the worst time is approaching for our country” and “we have to prepare for a difficult time.”

He said, “It is difficult to predict what will happen tomorrow,” he explained, explaining that it is necessary to prepare emergency heating means in the ‘old-fashioned’ way, such as preparing firewood in advance in case of unstable power and heating supply.

Smoke rises from the Lviv power facility after a Russian missile strike [사진 제공:연합뉴스]

Lviv, located only 80 km from the Polish border, has been considered a relatively safe area, as it has hardly been attacked directly by Russia.

However, after two days of Russian air raids, the landscape of Lviv changed completely.

On the first day of the raid, 15 Russian missiles were dropped at substations in the region, but power and water supply were restored to most parts of Lviv that evening as authorities repair work.

However, the next day, around 9 a.m. on the 11th, three more explosions at two energy facilities struck Lviv’s core infrastructure again.

“Four substations in Lviv have been shut down. We need a transformer to get them running again, but we don’t have anything available,” said Sadovi.

CNN reported that Russia was relentlessly attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and reported that 30% of Ukraine’s energy-related facilities were damaged in the two-day attack.