Russia may focus its future winter attacks on Ukraine’s water supply systems, seeking to exhaust society and force the authorities to agree to capitulation. Kyiv is preparing for new strikes, strengthening the protection of infrastructure, and needs additional interceptor missiles and funding.
Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said this in an interview with Politico.
According to the minister, Putin seeks to completely destroy Ukraine’s energy system, halt the economy and weapons production. The Kremlin also hopes that Ukrainian society will become exhausted in winter and begin pressuring the country’s leadership.
“Russia’s goal now is to destroy our water supply. Last winter they targeted electricity and heating, but during power outages it was still possible to survive if you had gas and water. It is difficult to survive for more than three days without water and sewage,” Shmyhal said.
Ukraine is responding with long-range strikes on Russian oil refineries. As a result, about 40% of Russia’s main refining capacity has been put out of operation, causing an increasing fuel shortage. Kyiv hopes that these strikes, together with sanctions imposed by allies, will force Putin to end the war as early as this autumn. At the same time, Ukraine is preparing for a pessimistic scenario in which hostilities and strikes on energy infrastructure continue through the winter.
To protect itself from Russian ballistic missiles, Ukraine needs PAC-3 interceptors for Patriot systems. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously spoke of the need for 300 such missiles.
Shmyhal said that Russia has destroyed or damaged more than 80% of Ukraine’s power generation capacity. After the winter attacks, electricity production fell to about 12 GW, while the power deficit stands at around 6 GW.
