As winter approaches, kyiv is seeking to minimize such offensives and improve its defense capabilities to repel these threats and protect its population.
Ukraine summoned this Tuesday the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to an extraordinary meeting of its Governing Council on December 12, with the aim of addressing the increasingly frequent Russian attacks against its energy structure that put at risk the nuclear plants and leave the population in a situation of extreme vulnerability, especially in the run-up to winter and the arrival of low temperatures.
“The Russian attacks on substations, which the IAEA has identified as important for nuclear safety, represent a global threat" said Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, calling for the meeting to find a solution to this growing problem.
Since the start of the war, Russia has focused many of its offensives on non-military objectives, as are the residential buildings and energy facilities which, after being hit by the missiles, must interrupt its supply in the country. This results in long periods of blackouts -which deprive people of proper air conditioning and access to basic services- as well as endangering the proper operation of reactors and other delicate systems.
This year, however, the Kremlin has stepped up its attacks on these sites, forcing kyiv to race against time to prevent these maneuvers and remedy the damage caused.
Just the night before, a Russian drone in Ternopul y Exactly reached an energy facility, in what was the 112th attack on such sites since March. Previously, on November 28, Moscow had also launched a massive missile and drone offensive in three regions of western Ukraine, which hit 117 objectives.
According to Ukrainian forces, Russia launched More than 90 projectiles and a hundred drones loaded with cluster munition over the Lviv, Volyn and Rivne regions. While the Army managed to shoot down 79 and 35 of the threats, respectively, the rest hit the ground and left More than a million people without electricity, while others were affected by temporary power outages in Zhitomir and Kherson.
In this context, in addition to calling for an extraordinary meeting, Ukraine is intensifying its request to its allies for greater assistance, especially with regard to the provision of anti-aircraft defence systems, which are key to preventing these manoeuvres.
Sybiha addressed the members of the NATO and asked them to send 20 additional systems to those already announced in recent packages, as well as other capabilities to maintain their position at the front and prevent the enemy from advancing into the country.
“Ukraine urgently needs the supply of at least 20 additional air defense systems Hawks, NASAMS or IRIS-T. This will help prevent blackouts", he began by saying to the press in Brussels, where he travelled on the occasion of the meeting of foreign ministers of the member states of the Alliance, and added: “We need to stop Russia and prevent its army from advancing on our territory.”
"Their logic is clear: they are trying to occupy as much territory as possible to strengthen their negotiating position," he concluded, in an attempt to persuade the allies to consider their request.
(With information from EFE)
Source: INFOBAE