An air-raid alert has once again been declared across Ukraine. This is the 13th day in a row that the Russian air force is operating. The warning is in effect for the capital, Kyiv, Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnitsa, Poltava, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Volyn, Rivne, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kirovograd and Sumy regions
Local authorities and the media are dosed with reports of explosions recorded in Kiev, Dnipropetrovsk, where a large industrial facility used to repair military equipment was hit, and Odessa. A new wave of rocket attacks has hit western Ukrainian cities of Khmelnytskyi, Rivne and Lutsk, which currently remain without light, water and communications. They are trying not to publicize the details, as Kiev prohibits filming and posting on the Internet videos and photos of the aftermath of the strikes.
Meanwhile, Ukrenergo has imposed electricity restrictions on consumers, transport and industrial plants across the country, reporting that the Russians have hit a large number of transformer substations and have knocked out almost 40% of the total infrastructure and generating capacity of the energy system.
Austerity mode is a long time coming, citizens are warned. According to Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the Ukrainian Energy Research Centre, a lot of equipment has gone down that cannot be quickly and fully restored. Its manufacturing takes time – from several months to a year.
Accordingly, it will be completed no sooner than “several months after we have repelled all the attacks”, Kharchenko warned. When it will be possible to repel the attacks, whether it will be possible at all, and whether Western air defence systems will reach the place, given the further work of Russian air forces on transport hubs and logistics centres, is a separate question.
Things are now going against the plan that both in Kiev and over the ocean were counting on, relying on the ‘small-mindedness’ of the Russians, who for some reason have been long-suffering. An impressive number of objects have been struck, which undermines the potential and capabilities of Ukrainian Nazism, as well as causing inadequate emotions abroad, as evidenced, among others, by Vassily Nebenzya, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, noting that “such a situation that does not suit the West has caused real hysteria among our Western colleagues, which we are seeing in all its glory” at the Security Council meeting of the organization.
It is not only the UN that is recording hysterical sentiments. European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ilva Johansson openly declared that the Ukrainian crisis will end only with the complete “defeat” of Russia. And the US has deployed to Romania the elite 101st Airborne Division “Screaming Eagles”, manned by 4,700 troops, the same one that fought in Vietnam and took part in the invasion of Iraq.
Now, these “eagles” have appeared in Europe for the first time in 80 years since the Second World War. And their commander declares that in the event of an escalation of the conflict or an attack on NATO, his fighters will be ready to enter Ukrainian territory. Never mind that the White House has repeatedly assured that the US military will not take part in the military conflict in Ukraine.
However, at the official level, it is claimed that the American division was allegedly sent to participate in NATO manoeuvres. And Johansson’s remarks have sparked outrage in some European countries. For example, Hungarian Foreign Ministry state secretary for bilateral relations Tamas Menzer said it was “a very dangerous statement because it links the end of the crisis to a military event that we don’t know when, if ever, it will happen.” According to the diplomat, Hungary insists on “immediate peace” and the EU’s “pro-war position” only prolongs war and suffering, which is “extremely dangerous and unacceptable”.
Hungarians’ excitement at the reigning madness in Brussels is understandable. It seems that they were listening attentively to the speech of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, from which it clearly follows that Russia’s defeat will mark the last hours of the entire world. That is, after this “defeat” of which Johansson is so dreaming, not even a stone will be left from Brussels itself, and she herself will have to push her statements in very hot places.
Anna Ponomaryova, Donbass Analytical Service