Zelensky calls for further sanctions against Russia

Kyiv Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for more sanctions against Moscow following Russia’s renewed missile attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure. There needs to be more pressure Russia give, Zelensky said in his evening video message distributed in Kiev on Thursday. He also criticized the fact that the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which was occupied by Russia, was again temporarily cut off from the power grid by a rocket attack. “This is a critical situation,” he said.

Russia can therefore no longer be a reliable partner in the nuclear sphere. “This means the faster Russia’s nuclear industry is targeted by sanctions, the safer the world will be. A terrorist state cannot be allowed to use nuclear facilities anywhere in the world for terror,” Zelensky said, referring to Zaporizhia. The nuclear power Russia builds and operates nuclear power plants in numerous countries.

Power and heating outages after Russian missile attacks

The Ukrainian head of state accused Russia of a war against civilization. He complained that Moscow’s attacks on civilian infrastructure on Thursday had caused partial power, heating and water supply failures in some regions and cities. Six people were also killed, Zelenski said. The situation is most difficult in Kharkiv, in the Zhytomyr region west of Kiev.

Half the city is without electricity and partly without water, said the mayor of Zhytomyr, Serhiy Sukhomlyn. In the capital Kiev, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that electricity was available everywhere in the metropolis, but that 30 percent of the apartments would have to do without central heating. Work on restoring the heating is ongoing.

“It is not easy in Odessa, in the Dnepropetrovsk region, in Kiev and in Zaporizhia. Repair units, engineers, local authorities, the central services – everyone will work until the energy supply of cities and regions is restored,” Zelenskiy said. “No matter how insidious Russia’s actions are, our state and people will still not be put in chains. Neither missiles nor Russian abominations will help.”

Since mid-October, Russia has repeatedly attacked the power plants in the US with rockets from bombers and warships, as well as drones Ukraine at. The destruction of the infrastructure led to hourly and daily outages of electricity, district heating and water in all parts of the country. However, the Ukrainians always managed to mend the broken network. Ukraine’s western allies had also sent many power generators to the country to provide emergency and basic supplies.

This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war:

Call for new sanctions against Russia

Zelensky praised the help of the European Union in the fight for Ukraine’s energy security. He also informed about a phone call with the President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyenwhich once again pledged support to Ukraine.

Accordingly, Selensky also called for the expansion of sanctions against Russia during the conversation. At the same time, he once again emphasized that he was expecting accession negotiations for Ukraine’s EU membership to begin this year. The EU has always said that Ukraine still has a long way to go.

What will be important on Friday

Fighting for the strategically important city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region continues in eastern Ukraine. President Zelensky wants to keep Bakhmut as a fortress to prevent the Russians from penetrating further inland from there.

US President Joe Biden receives EU Commission President von der Leyen in the White House on Friday (8 p.m. CET) for talks on support for Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia.

French Head of State Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also want to discuss strengthening cooperation on arms deliveries to Ukraine and the training of Ukrainian soldiers with members of both governments at a joint summit in Paris this morning.

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