Politic?: Russian Plans to Leave Ukrainians Freezing in the Dark Without Water This Winter

Ukrainians shelter inside a metro station after a missile attack in Kyiv on Monday. Andrii Nesterneko/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

"Cruise missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure continued into a second week on 17 October 2022, when Ukraine reported shooting down three cruise missiles flying towards Kyiv. On the morning of 18 October, new missile attacks were reported in at least three cities leaving some of them with no electricity. As of 18 October 2022, international prosecutors were investigating the targeting of civilian buildings and critical civilian infrastructure as potential war crimes."
"Visual evidence and photographs of remains of the missiles show that many that were launched on 10 and 11 October 2022 were winged cruise missiles, of the sea-launched Kalibr (3M-14), the land-launched R-500 (9M728) for the Iskander system, and air-launched Kh-101 types. These missiles are touted by Russia as high-precision weapons that only destroy relevant military targets. However, since the start of Russia’s invasion, long-range cruise missiles have repeatedly destroyed civilian infrastructure and caused hundreds of civilian deaths and injuries – for example when a cruise missile hit residential areas in Odesa and Mykolaiv earlier this summer. "

"In one single day in July, cruise missile attacks on the city of Vinnytsia are reported to have killed 27 civilians. These strikes, that hit non-military targets, suggest either that the missiles failed to follow their pre-programmed flight path, that targeting was based on defective intelligence information, or that civilian harm was intentional. In at least two cases in April and early June, Russian cruise missiles flew dangerously low above nuclear power stations, creating the risk of a nuclear accident in the event of a misfire or falling debris."
Christo Grozev, lead Russia investigator, Bellingcat

A Kalibr cruise missile being launched from a Russian navy ship in the Caspian sea, photo: Russian Ministry of Defence.

"[Russian forces carried out] strikes with long-range, high-precision air- and sea-based weapons against the military command and energy systems of Ukraine."
"The goals of the strikes were achieved. All designated targets were hit."
Russian Defence Ministry

"It [civic deprivation] has an influence on our lives, it is really inconvenient."
"But the truth is, it's not a problem. The problem is we have a war."
Denis, 34-year-old resident, Kyiv

Denis was among hundreds of residents of the Ukraine capital lined up, of necessity for hours at a time, to pump water by hand from wells. They were filling plastic bottles and cans. The only available source of water after bombing raids by Russia, launching cruise missiles to damage or destroy energy and water infrastructure across the city, and other cities around the besieged and partially-occupied country.

In Kharkiv, the contested city in Ukraine's east, two strikes hit critical infrastructure facilities. The city's subway system ceased operations. Southeast of Kyiv the Cherkazy region also was hit, critical infrastructure sites placed out of commission as energy and waterworks facilities were hit in central Ukraine, southeast, and eastern Ukraine.

Missiles shot down by the Ukraine military saw remnants landing on civilian buildings -- damaged but without casualties. Ukraine's train network, the Ukrainian Railways, had power cut in certain areas. Russia had accused Ukraine of a drone strike hitting Russia's Black Sea Fleet off the Crimean Peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. Ukraine blames Russia's own mishandling of its weapons as having caused the explosions.

A Russian strategic bomber launches a Kh-101. Screengrab from Russian Ministry of Defence video.

Early on Monday a massive barrage of Russian cruise missiles and drones struck critical infrastructure in cities across Ukraine, knocking out water and power supplies in a stated retaliation for an attack on Russia's Black Sea Fleet that Moscow attributes to Ukraine. Russian attacks on Ukraine's power plants and allied infrastructure has been intensified into the ninth month of the Kremlin's 'special military operation'. Ukraine has already instituted a series of rolling power cuts.

"The Kremlin is taking revenge for military failures on peaceful people who are left without electricity and heat before the winter", Gov. Oleksii Kuleba of the Kyiv region explained. A dozen ships nonetheless carrying grain left Ukrainian ports that same day, in spite of a Russian threat to reimpose a blockade; threatening food shortages globally. One vessel carried wheat from Ukraine to Ethiopiam where a severe drought has affected millions.

People line up to fill up with water in Kyiv. Denys Otroshchenko/CNN

According to Ukraine's air force, it had succeeded in shooting down 44 of over 50 cruise missiles launched by Russia. Russian missiles and drones struck ten Ukrainian regions and damaged 18 sites, most facilities producing energy, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. Power was cut to hundreds of localities in seven regions of Ukraine: "The consequences could have been much worse", the prime minister said, had Ukrainian forces been unable to shoot down most of the missiles.

Explosive blasts were heard across Kyiv as residents prepared to carry on with their day by going out to work. Emergency services forwarded text messages cautioning of the threat of a missile attack, while air raid sirens wailed for three hours straight during the morning commute. Some 80 percent of residents in the city of three million were without water, related to damage to a power facility.

By Monday evening, workers reduced that percentage to 40. Kyiv authorities extended the intervals between subway trains to cut power consumption. Electric trolley buses and trams with buses were put to work until subway service could resume Monday evening.