After Russia’s Missile Attack: Ukraine Demands Arms Up to Russia

Status: 11/25/2022| Reading Time: 3 minutes

AThe Ukrainian government has called on the West to take a tougher stance on Russia, in view of the heavy destruction of critical infrastructure after Russian rocket attacks on Kiev. “Weapons must be delivered now, which is a potential threat to Putin,” Ukrainian government sources told WELT.

Kyiv, for example, needs long-range missiles that can take out launch sites and ammunition dumps on Russian territory. “The possibility of such a counterattack on our part would be seen as a deterrent in Moscow.”

According to Kiev, the Russian military shot down about 70 rockets and drones in Ukraine on Wednesday. An aerial alert was sounded across the country, and there were several explosions in Kiev. As a result of the bombing of energy infrastructure in the Kyiv region, there was a complete blackout, and three nuclear power plants were shut down. In the capital, overnight temperatures dropped below zero, snow is already on the ground and roads are icy.

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Attacks on energy infrastructure

A day later, two-thirds of the capital, Kiev, was without power. Water supply was resumed on Thursday afternoon. According to Ukrainian government sources, the scale of the emergency is not yet understood in the West. “Until now, we’ve been able to repair destroyed energy infrastructure very quickly and restore supply within days. But that won’t be the case for long.”

Scarcity of spare parts is feared. So the Ukrainian government expects long strikes in December, during which survival in Kyiv will be “impossible”. The capital’s mayor Vitali Klitschko also warned of the coming weeks. “This is the worst winter since World War II,” he said “Bild” newspaper.

Extortion strategy

In Kiev, one suspects that the Kremlin has a clear strategy behind this approach. “The Russians want to force us to negotiate by reducing our population and pressuring the Europeans with the help of new refugees,” government sources in Kyiv said. During the pause in the war, preparations will be made for a new assault on the capital: “Putin has not yet given up his war goal of total domination of Ukraine.” The country urgently needs to counter this. and air defense systems.

Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak suggested on Wednesday that Germany should provide the Patriot air defense system to Ukraine, not his country. Earlier in the week, the German government offered to support NATO ally Poland with the Patriot missile defense system after a missile struck Poland on its border with Ukraine. “After the new Russian missile attacks, I asked the German side to transfer the Patriot battery supplied to Poland to Ukraine and station it on the western border,” Blaszczak said on Twitter.

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In this way, Ukraine will be protected from new losses and power failures and the security of the common border will be strengthened. Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) responded with caution on Thursday. “Patriot systems are part of NATO’s integrated air defense system, so they belong to the coalition area. And if they are to be used outside NATO, this should be discussed with the allies in advance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the UN to take action against Russia over the bombing of energy infrastructure. “This is the Russian formula for terrorism,” he said in a video message. “When we have sub-zero temperatures and millions of people are without electricity, heat and water, it’s a blatant crime against humanity.”

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Referring to the expected Russian veto, he said it made no sense to give veto power to the party waging this war – “this criminal war”. “Killing civilians, destroying civilian infrastructure are acts of terrorism,” he said on Twitter before the meeting. The international community must give a concrete response to this.