Vladimir Putin's onslaught of strikes on Ukrainian energyinfrastructurehasn't been enough to plunge the country into a blackout, in a blow to the Russian leader'scontinued campaign of aggression. Moscow's relentless bombardment of the eastern European country's power grid hasn't yet brought the wartorn region to its knees, according to Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelensky. Mr Zelensky said Ukraine's energy system was continuing to function, despite all of the country's power plants sustaining damage, thanks to the efforts of staff on the ground and air defence partners.
Speaking at theMunich Security Conferenceon Saturday, February 14, he said: "We continue to produce electricity thanks to our people. And we have preserved our system thanks to the physical protection of our facilities and everyone who helps us with air defence." It comes after an elderly woman was killed in an overnight attack on Friday when a Russian drone hit a residential building in the Black Sea port city of Odesa. Russian strikes also killed three children in the northeastern region of Kharkiv on Wednesday, according toUkrainianofficials.
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President Zelensky stressedUkraine's urgent need for more air defence supplies during the conference, which was held days before the fourth anniversary ofRussia's illegal invasion, which has killed hundreds of thousands and decimated the country's eastern region.
He told other world leaders that Ukraine had defended itself against "6,000 attack drones" in January, as well as "150+ Russian missiles of different types" and glide bombs.
Kyiv has accused Russia of using thecold weatheras a weapon by targeting civilian heat and power infrastructure as winter temperatures continue to drop.
As fighting continues along the Ukraine-Russia border, envoys from the two countries are due to meet for US-brokered peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, next week.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said meetings would be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, but it remains unclear whether the discussions will resolve seemingly insurmountable disagreements, including on the future of Ukraine'sindustrial heartland in Donbas, most of which is under occupation by Russian forces.
Source: Daily Express :: World Feed
