Vladimir Putin promised to continue strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure, a response according to him to attacks by Kyiv, particularly in Crimea, an annexed peninsula whose vulnerability Moscow has admitted.
For his part, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, accused the Russian forces of intensively mining and trapping the territories they abandoned during their withdrawal, assuring that “terrorism by mines will be among the charges brought against Russia”. .
“Terrorists deliberately try to leave behind as many deadly traps as possible,” he said in his daily internet address. Buried landmines, tripwires, mined buildings, cars and infrastructure… This is more than 170,000 km2 of dangerous territory. »
Presenting medals to soldiers and other personalities on Thursday at the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin for his part brushed aside Western criticism of the Russian strikes which in recent weeks have left millions of Ukrainians without electricity, even without water and without heating, in full winter temperatures.
“Yes, we do, but who started it? launched Mr. Putin, presenting these bombings as a response to the explosion which damaged the Crimean bridge, built by Russia, at the beginning of October, and to other attacks attributed to kyiv.
He also blamed kyiv for having “blown up the power lines of the nuclear power plant in Kursk”, a Russian region bordering Ukraine, and for “not supplying water” to the pro-Russian separatist stronghold of Donetsk, in the east of the country, the target of deadly Ukrainian bombardments for the past three days.
“From our side, as soon as we start doing something in response, the noise, the clamor, the crackle spreads throughout the universe,” Putin quipped.
“It will not hinder us in fulfilling our combat missions,” he added.
“Risks” in Crimea
Earlier Thursday, the Kremlin had admitted to being vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks in Crimea, a peninsula annexed in 2014, after several attacks attributed to Ukraine perpetrated far from the front.
A drone was shot down by the Russian fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea, on Thursday, local authorities said, a sign of continuing risks to the annexed peninsula that kyiv has vowed to retake.
These attacks, combined with a series of Russian reverses in Ukraine, seem to testify to the fact that, nine months after the start of the offensive, Russia is struggling not only to consolidate its positions, but also to protect its rear bases.
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, based in the port of Sevastopol, was hit in late October by what authorities called a “massive” drone attack, which damaged at least one vessel.
And in early October, the bridge connecting the peninsula to Russia was partially destroyed by an explosion that Moscow attributed to Ukrainian forces.
‘Spies’ Arrested
With front lines likely to freeze come winter, Ukrainians are increasingly turning to drones to strike Russian bases in the rear, away from the front, as the Russians bomb Ukraine’s energy infrastructure , even if it means plunging civilians into the cold.
According to the Ukrainian operator Ukrenergo, the electricity system was still the victim of a “significant deficit” on Thursday after the last Russian strikes, dating from Monday.
Sign of tensions in Crimea, the Russian security services (FSB) announced Thursday the arrest of two residents of Sevastopol suspected of having transmitted to Ukraine information on military targets.
The Ukrainian army has moved closer to Crimea in recent weeks thanks to a victorious counter-offensive which enabled it to retake the strategic city of Kherson in the south of the country on November 11.
In this area, where the bulk of the forces of the two camps are separated by the Dnieper River, the situation remains tense, with regular Russian strikes on Kherson.
Oleksii Kovbassiouk, a resident of the region met by Agence France-Presse, crosses the river despite the risks and the freezing temperatures to help the inhabitants trapped on the left bank, occupied by the Russians, to flee.
“I’ve already had two bullet holes on my boat,” he said.
