KIEV (dpa-AFX) – In view of expected new Russian attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj is calling for Ukraine’s energy system to be quickly strengthened for the winter. “It is very important to win this winter, overcome all difficulties and provide protection for our people,” Zelensky said in his daily video address on Friday. Last fall and winter, Russia massively attacked the neighboring country’s energy infrastructure and plunged many Ukrainians into cold and darkness for months.
Russia’s leadership always repeats its mistakes and evils. “And when they don’t succeed in something, they think that they probably haven’t done enough evil to succeed,” Zelensky said. He was therefore convinced that Russia would bombard the energy system even more this winter than last year.
According to the Ukrainian president, the country is better prepared for such attacks this time – among other things thanks to the anti-aircraft defenses supplied by the West. In this context, he thanked Chancellor Olaf Scholz for agreeing to another Patriot system. But he also called on the regional authorities to stabilize the power grid in order to be able to better cope with individual hits.
Reminder of recent Russian missile attacks
Zelensky also recalled the recent Russian rocket attacks in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, in which dozens of civilians were injured and killed. The devastating attacks on the village of Hrosa and the city of Kharkiv itself caused international horror.
After these Russian missile attacks, citizens in Moscow also laid flowers at a memorial for the victims. Almost all yellow and blue flowers – the national colors of Ukraine – were sold out in the neighborhood, the independent Internet portal Astra quoted an eyewitness as saying on Friday. A video shows flower arrangements at the Lesya Ukrainka monument. However, it is said that the city authorities kept clearing the flowers away.
On Friday evening, the authorities in the city of Kharkiv reported the cessation of rescue and search work. On Friday morning, a ten-year-old boy and his grandmother were killed when a rocket hit the Ukrainian city near the Russian border. 30 people were injured, 12 of whom had to be hospitalized. Just the day before, according to official information, 52 people were killed by a Russian rocket strike on a café in a village in the Kharkiv region. The Russian leadership denies that it is also shelling civilian targets in its war of aggression against the neighboring country.
Zelensky’s advisor: “We need Taurus”
Ukraine is not accepting Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s no to the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles. Zelensky’s foreign policy advisor Mykhailo Podoljak told the “Bild” newspaper that the main issue was Crimea: “We need Taurus to destroy the most important transport and logistics connection that runs through Crimea.” He hopes that the position of the Chancellor and other representatives of the political elite will change, and not just in Germany. Scholz and other top politicians must realize “that there is no turning back from this war.” It is therefore necessary to “provide Ukraine with all the means to bring this war to a just end.”
US declares two Russian diplomats persona non grata
The US government has declared two Russian diplomats living in the US personae non gratae. This is a reaction to the “flimsy expulsion” of two diplomats from the US Embassy in Moscow, a spokesman for the US State Department told the German Press Agency in Washington. They said they did not want to tolerate the Russian government’s harassment of US diplomats and wanted to send a clear signal that such actions had consequences.
Russia expelled two diplomats from the US embassy in Moscow in mid-September. They were accused of interfering in the country’s internal affairs. Moscow accused them of recruiting a Russian to obtain secret information.
Moldova accuses Russian mercenaries of attempting a coup
According to information from Chisinau, the Russian mercenary group Wagner has planned a coup in the Eastern European Republic of Moldova. The plan was to bribe voters and turn protests against the government into violence. Moldovan President Maia Sandu said this in an interview with the Financial Times published on Friday. “The situation is really dramatic and we have to protect ourselves,” said Sandu. Money was smuggled from Russia into the ex-Soviet republic lying between Ukraine and Romania, partly with money couriers and partly via bank accounts and cards from Dubai.
What will be important on Saturday
Russia’s President Wladimir Putin celebrates his 71st birthday. The Kremlin chief will meet that day with his Uzbek colleague Shawkat Mirziyoyev and Kazakh President Kassym-Shomar Tokayev. It is said that the start of Russian gas deliveries to Uzbekistan in Central Asia via transit through Kazakhstan will be celebrated in a solemn ceremony. Putin’s meetings with these heads of state are also intended to demonstrate to Russians that Russia is not isolated internationally./bal/DP/zb