Russia increases tension in Zaporizhia with a new wave of attacks in Ukraine

The Zaporizhia region can become one of the most active fronts during crucial winter months ahead of continued Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure in this province and other parts of Ukraine, which left at least two dead on Monday.

The increase in tension in Zaporizhia coincides with a new wave of Russian attacks in Ukraine that have hit various regions of the country.

Because of the bombings, electricity and water supplies were cut off in Odesa (South) and electricity and heating also disappeared in Krivói Rog (Centre), and in Mykolaiv (South) there was an emergency blackout while the air raid alarms were set off.

According to the operator of the Ukrainian electricity grid, Ukrenergo, the country suffered the eighth mass attack against its energy infrastructure, which began in October.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a short video on his Telegram that the Ukrainian air defenses they managed to shoot down most of the missiles released by Russia.

As indicated on the same social network by the Ukrainian Air Force, more than 60 Russian missiles out of the 70 that the enemy fired from the Black and Caspian Seas and the Russian Rostov region on the country were shot down on Monday.

Tensions rise in Zaporizhia

Zaporizhia was one of the affected regions by Russian bombing.

“This time, the occupiers struck with their damn missiles industrial and energy infrastructure of the city of Zaporizhia,” the acting mayor of the regional capital, Anatoliy Kurtev, wrote in Telegram.

Local authorities later reported several more attacks in the southern region, which resulted in at least two deaths.

This was stated in turn by the representative of the pro-Russian authorities of the region annexed to Russia, Vladimir Rogov “warehouses with weapons and ammunition hit”as well as “infrastructure targets used by the (Volodimir) Zelensky regime”.

Rogov already anticipated a few weeks ago that the Zaporizhia front could be a priority after the Russian withdrawal from northern Kherson.

This Monday, the pro-Russian assured the intensity of artillery fire on the line of contact between the sides is “larger than usual”.

Russia controls the southern and central parts of Zaporizhiaconstituting about 70% of the region’s territory, but failed to take the provincial capital.

According to the Ukrainian mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, in the last week Ukrainian forces have destroyed “at least 20 bases” on the Zaporizhia front, especially in the localities of “Melitópol, Polohi, Mikhaylovka, Vesele”.

And the nuclear power plant?

Immediately, Uncertainty about Russian plans continues at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, located in the city of Energodar which Moscow’s troops have controlled since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

According to Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich, the enemy understands that he must leave the plant area to avoid encirclement before the Ukrainian advance.

Arestovich assured that when the Kiev troops reach Melitopol, about 120 kilometers from Energodar, Russian forces will be cut off and will not be able to receive new supplies.

“We won’t even have to fight (for the plant). We arrive, we surround, we wait, they die and we take the plant warm and without destruction,” he said.

According to Arestovich, the rumors about the possible withdrawal of the Russians from the Zaporizhia plant do not anticipate a “gesture of goodwill” from Moscow, but speak of the desire of the Russian leadership to “avoid an ambush” for its troops.

However, Zelensky’s adviser believes that Russia I will try to “bargain” to get something in exchange for his departure from the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

Moscow has denied plans to withdraw from Zaporizhia, but has confirmed talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to create a safety zone around the plant.

endure the winter

All in all, for Ukraine now the main task is to survive the winter, as the president of Ukraine said.

Zelensky in his daily speech called on Ukrainians to endure the winter, which “will be hard” but “no matter how hard it is”brings them closer “to victory”.

“This winter is worth seeing not as a test, but as a moment, a moment that brings us closer to the main thing, to victory. Each of these 90 days of winter,” he said.

According to the US Institute for the Study of Warfare (ISW), Ukrainian forces plan to continue offensive operations through the winter to capitalize on recent battlefield successes and prevent Russian forces from regaining the initiative of the first months of the military intervention.

Source: EFE

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