Temperatures are freezing this time of year in kyiv, Ukraine. But nearly half of the region’s civilians have no heat or electricity as Russian airstrikes cripple the nation’s energy infrastructure.
“You don’t have water, you don’t have heating. It is impossible to live like this. And that is what Putin is trying to do with the Ukrainians,” Ukrainian parliament member Oleksiy Goncharenko told Fox News Digital.
As the ground hardens and snow begins to fall, the Ukraine war goes into a winter offensive: the Russians take down more power plants than military bases in a switch that targets Ukraine’s civilians.
Goncharenko lives in Odessa, which is bearing the brunt of attacks from Russia and relies on backup power supplies to keep the city running.
man views destroyed Russian tanks outside Bucha on December 5, 2022 in Bucha, Ukraine. Ukrainian officials expect a new wave of Russian shelling this week, with earlier rounds targeting critical infrastructure and causing massive water and power cuts, including in the capital kyiv.
(Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
UKRAINE SAYS 60 OF 70 RUSSIAN MISSILES FALLED DOWN AMID BARREL OF ATTACKS
“My wife, my two children are without electricity, without water, without everything. The repair process is in progress. So, we hope that the situation will improve,” Goncharenko said. “But we know that Russia may attack again. And unfortunately, I think it will happen.”
The Ukrainians are retaliating by taking the fight to Putin. On Monday, Ukraine was reported to have struck two Russian military bases 300 miles from the border, in the heart of enemy territory. On Tuesday, Ukraine used drones to attack an oil facility 80 miles from Ukraine.
“Thousands of Ukrainians die. Our country is devastated. The attacks are organized from Russian territory,” Goncharenko said. “It is clear that we have all the rights.”
But this strategy has its flaws: the Western allies have been wary of providing Ukraine with weapons that could reach Moscow.
The Wall Street Journal reported exclusively on Monday that the United States modified advanced Himars rocket launchers so that they do not have the ability to fire at Russia from long range. The United States provided Ukraine with at least 20 Himars rocket launchers in June.
“We are not allowing Ukraine to attack beyond its borders,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday. “Everything we are doing, everything the world is doing to support Ukraine is in support of Ukrainian independence. Its sovereignty and territorial integrity are preserved. It is not encouraging Ukraine to attack beyond its borders.”
PUTIN HOLDS COUNCIL MEETING ON INTERNAL SECURITY AFTER 3 AIRBASE ‘EXPLOSIONS’
An M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) takes part in a military exercise near Liepaja, Latvia on September 26, 2022.
(Reuters)
“With more weaponry, we can end this war very quickly, and that will not be an escalation, because if [so] this bloodshed will continue for years,” Goncharenko said. “Don’t forget that for the Russians, it’s not a war against Ukraine. It is the war against the West waged by the United States. And Putin… says it absolutely openly.”
While Ukraine is developing its own arsenal of weapons, Russia has been escaping Western sanctions to build its own weapons in recent months. A report by Conflict Armament Research (CAR) researchers indicated that the debris from the missiles fired at kyiv on November 23 occurred between July and September 2022 and October and November 2022.
“That is why the sanctions are so important, because we see that the Russians are already using newly shot down missiles. That means that, from one point of view, your stocks are already really empty. So, they are using missiles that have just been produced,” he said. Goncharenko. “We need to continue this work to finally close all the holes that Russia is trying to use to avoid sanctions.”
CHILDREN TAKE CENTER STAGE AT UN MEETING ON RUSSIA’S WAR IN UKRAINE: ‘THE WORLD GONE MAD’
In this handout photo taken from a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, a Yars ICBM is tested as part of Russia’s nuclear exercises from a launch site in Plesetsk, in northwestern Russia.
(Russian Defense Ministry press service via AP)
As Ukraine shows increased willingness to attack inside Russia’s border, the Ukrainian government has a long list of air defense missiles, from the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) to munitions and drones.
“If we had in March the weapons that we received in May, we would finish everything in April for the benefit of the whole world and certainly for Ukraine,” Goncharenko said. “Our country would not be so devastated. Thousands of people would be alive. So it’s not a matter of economics. It’s not a matter of money. It’s a matter of we need to win this war as soon as possible.”
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Lacey Christ is a producer for Fox News @ Night. You can follow her on Twitter: @lacey_christ1
