Russian forces continue losing ground despite destroying a third of Ukraine’s power stations in 1 week

Russian drone and missile attacks have destroyed nearly a third of Ukraine’s power stations, but Ukrainian forces continue to gain ground President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Tuesday.

Russia has launched barrages of missiles, shells and other ordnance into Ukrainian cities in a campaign that started after the bombing of the Kerch Bridge on October 8. The attacks have targeted population centers, parks and infrastructure as Ukraine’s cold winter approaches. 

“Since Oct 10, 30% of Ukraine’s power stations have been destroyed, causing massive blackouts across the country,” Zelenskyy announced Tuesday. “No space left for negotiations with Putin’s regime.”

Russia unveiled its change in strategy with an hours-long bombardment of Kyiv and 15 other major Ukrainian cities last week. The attack left swaths of the capital without power, heating and water.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has also resorted to deploying Iranian-made kamikaze drones in Ukraine. The explosive-strapped devices have been seen flying into targets near Kyiv and other cities throughout the week.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov condemned the attacks as war crimes and called on Western countries to supply more air-defense systems to Ukraine.

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Germany and NATO have responded with a push to organize the purchase of additional air defense systems for Europe and its allies. Likely candidates are the Israeli Arrow 3 system, U.S. Patriot and German IRIS-T platforms, according to Reuters.

Ukrainian forces are continuing to make progress when it comes to the conflict on the ground, however.Much of the territory Putin claimed to annex earlier in October is now back under Ukrainian control.

“They use their expensive rockets for nothing, just to frighten people,” Volodymyr Ariev, a member of Ukraine’s Parliament, told The New York Times. “They think they can scare Ukrainians. But the goal they achieved is only making us angrier.”