Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had begun preparations for mass strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities. The Russian ministry described the planned attacks as a response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian infrastructure and the fuel and energy sector.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported this.
The ministry said preparations for the strikes had begun “in accordance with instructions received.” Moscow claims this will be a response to alleged “attacks by the Kyiv regime on Russia’s civilian infrastructure and fuel and energy complex.”
In early August, Ukrainian politicians and military officials warned that the coming winter could be difficult, particularly because of a shortage of air defense systems needed to repel Russian attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, summarizing the work of Ukrainian diplomats on energy assistance and the supply of missiles for air defense systems, said that preparations for this winter are one of the country’s key priorities.
Bloomberg previously reported that Russia was preparing to intensify strikes on Ukraine amid a lack of progress in peace talks. According to the agency, Moscow is considering increasing conventional ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv, including central parts of the capital, as well as infrastructure facilities in other Ukrainian cities.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously said Moscow intended to respond “harshly” to Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s economic and trade infrastructure. At the same time, he claimed that Russia was supposedly not interested in military escalation.
