Russia plans to launch a series of strikes against Ukraine's energy infrastructure ahead of the winter season, aiming to completely paralyze electricity, water, and heating supplies in major cities, specifically Kharkiv, Odesa, and Kyiv, and trigger a humanitarian collapse, reports The New York Times, citing Ukrainian intelligence data shared with Ukraine's Western partners.
“Ukraine showed European partners what it said were intercepted Russian plans to cut off major cities from power, heat and water this winter,” the publication stated on its website on Friday.
The scale of Russia’s ambition to freeze Ukrainians into submission is evident in a document that the Ukrainian energy minister, Denys Shmyhal, showed to European partners in Paris two weeks ago, according to two people familiar with his presentation.
According to them, Mr. Shmyhal described the document as an intercepted Russian plan to cause the energy system to collapse through methodical attacks. The plan, a copy of which The New York Times obtained, describes a campaign of strikes using up to 1,000 missiles, drones and bombs. They would target a wide range of facilities, including electrical substations, hydroelectric and thermal power plants, and boiler houses.
Most alarming, the document says that Russia intends to force Ukraine’s three operating nuclear plants — the backbone of its power infrastructure — to shut down by firing missiles at the electrical switchyards that connect them to the grid. The switchyards sit less than a mile from the reactors.
The plan also says that Moscow will target Ukraine’s water system, including pumping stations and wastewater treatment facilities, with dozens of ballistic missiles and glide bombs. Russia has never attacked such sites on a large scale before. Ukrainian officials have privately expressed concern that the country has limited backup plans should it face severe water disruptions.
The ultimate goal is to cut off major Ukrainian cities from power, heat and water, which could set off a humanitarian crisis. Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa are highlighted as top targets, with plans to cut electricity supplies in those cities by 90 percent, reduce heating supplies by up to 90 percent and severely disrupt the sewage system.
The ezine says it had no way to independently authenticate the document, which is dated from August and written in Russian. “But President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has publicly stated that his forces will wage an extensive campaign this winter to knock out Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, framing it as retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries,” The New York Times says.
