Russia is preparing to mount a large-scale attack against Ukraine, aiming to further destabilize the country’s power grid amid a worsening energy crisis, President Volodymyr Zelensky and Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal warned on Jan. 19.
The warning comes less than a week after Zelensky declared a state of emergency in the energy sector due to Russia’s relentless assault on the grid.
“In the coming days we must remain extremely vigilant. Russia has prepared for a strike — a massive strike — and is waiting for the moment to carry it out,” Zelensky said in his evening address.
The president urged citizens to pay close attention to air ride alarms and instructed regions to prepare emergency response plans ahead of the attack.
Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said Russia’s attack would target energy infrastructure, including potential strikes on facilities serving Ukraine’s nuclear power stations. Shmyhal said he updated Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), about the threat.
“I informed Mr. Grossi about the Russians’ preparation of another massive attack on energy infrastructure, with possible strikes on facilities and networks serving nuclear power stations,” Shmyhal said.
“We agreed to jointly hear from nuclear power station managers and heads of IAEA missions working at these facilities in the near future.”
The officials discussed the possibility of holding an extraordinary meeting of the IAEA board to assess the consequences of Russia’s assault on Ukrainian energy facilities.
Kyiv’s latest warning follows a Jan. 17 report from Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) about Moscow’s plans to hit substations linked to three active nuclear plants in western and southern Ukraine. The aim is to completely disconnect Ukrainians from heat and power, HUR siad.
Russia’s months-long campaign against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has led to controlled blackouts across the country to avoid overloading the grid, leaving millions without power in freezing temperatures. The attacks have disrupted civilians’ access to water, electricity, heating, and food.
The night before Zelensky’s Jan. 19 warning, Russia launched overnight attacks on energy infrastructure in “several regions,” leaving civilians in five Ukrainian oblasts without power. The regions include Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv oblasts bordering Russia to the north, as well as Odesa Oblast in the south and central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
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