Ukraine warns of more Russian attacks on energy infrastructure by Health & Fitness Journal
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©Health & Fitness Journal. Ukrainian soldiers prepare to exit from a T80 tank captured by Russians during a battle in Trostyanets March in Bakhmut, Ukraine east Donbass region, Bakhmut, Ukraine in March in east Donbass region, fire a missile 2/ 3
Kyiv/WASHINGTON (Health & Fitness Journal) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of further possible Russian attacks on his country’s energy infrastructure on Sunday, as officials urged residents of the capital Kyiv to consider plans to leave the country as ongoing strikes threaten electricity supplies.
Zelenskyi said in his regular nightly address that Russia was “concentrating forces and resources on a possible repetition of mass attacks on our infrastructure. First of all energy.”
More than 4.5 million consumers are already without power, Zelenskiy said, amid fears that support for Ukraine’s cause could falter as the war’s impact on energy and food prices continues into the winter.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who traveled to Kyiv on Friday and pledged Washington’s “unwavering and unwavering” support for Ukraine, has held secret talks with Russian officials to avoid further escalation, the Wall Street Journal reported On Sunday.
News of these contacts emerged after a report said Washington was urging Kyiv to signal its openness to talks with Russia.
Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak previously said on Twitter that Ukraine will “stand” despite Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure, adding that it would do so by deploying air defenses, protecting infrastructure and optimizing consumption .
The country faced a 32 percent deficit in planned electricity supply on Monday, Sergei Kovalenko, CEO of YASNO, a major utility in the capital, said on his Facebook page (NASDAQ:).
The warnings followed statements by Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko urging residents to “take everything into account,” including a worst-case scenario that sees the capital lose electricity and water.
Residents should consider staying with friends or family out of town, he said in a TV interview.
In the south, Russia and Ukraine continued to trade allegations as a Ukrainian advance on the southern city of Kherson continues. Health & Fitness Journal was unable to immediately verify Battlefield accounts from either side.
Yaroslav Yanushevych, governor of the Kherson region, said Russian troops destroyed about 1.5 km of power lines and cut power to the city of Beryslav.
“It is likely that there will be no electricity in Beryslav until it is completely liberated from occupation,” Yanushevich wrote on the messaging app Telegram, adding that power lines leading to Kherson were also destroyed.
Russian news agencies reported on Sunday that Ukraine’s huge Nova Kakhovka dam, upstream of Kherson on the Dnipro River, was damaged by shelling from Ukrainian forces. The reports provided no evidence to support the claim, which Health & Fitness Journal was unable to immediately verify.
Russia’s state-run TASS quoted a rescue service official as saying that a missile fired from a US-made HIMARS missile system hit and damaged the dam’s barrier. The official quoted said it was an “attempt to use the dam breach to set the stage for a humanitarian catastrophe.”
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The warnings came as the Wall Street Journal reported that White House official Sullivan had been in confidential talks with Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev for the past few months, which have not been publicly disclosed.
Few high-level contacts between US and Russian officials have been made public in recent months, as Washington insisted that all talks on ending the war in Ukraine be held between Moscow and Kyiv.
The White House declined to comment on the report, responding to questions about the story with only a statement attributed to National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson: “People are saying a lot of things.”
On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that the Biden administration was privately encouraging Ukraine to signal its openness to negotiations with Russia, the Washington Post reported, as the State Department said Moscow would escalate the war and not seriously want to engage in peace talks.
The newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying the request by American officials was not aimed at pushing Ukraine to the negotiating table but was a calculated attempt to ensure Kyiv retained the support of other nations.
US and Ukrainian officials acknowledged that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s ban on talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin has raised concerns in parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America, where the war’s impact on food and fuel costs is worst be felt, according to the Post.
“Ukraine fatigue is a real thing for some of our partners,” an unnamed US official was quoted as saying.
Zelenskyy signed a decree on Oct. 4 formally declaring the prospect of Ukrainian talks with Putin “impossible” but leaving the door open to talks with Russia.
The White House National Security Council initially did not comment on the accuracy of the report.
A State Department spokesman replied: “We have said it before and will say it again: actions speak louder than words. If Russia is willing to negotiate, it should stop its bombs and missiles and withdraw its forces from Ukraine.”