Russia Launches Renewed Strikes on Ukraine's Energy Infrastructure

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Facts

  • Russia has once again targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, launching more than 50 missiles and 20 drones at seven regions of the country late (local time) on Tuesday.1
  • Ukraine's Air Force said that of the 51 missiles fired by Russia, 39 were shot down, while 20 of the 21 drones fired were also destroyed.2
  • Nonetheless, Ukraine's Energy Ministry confirmed that power plants and other infrastructure in the regions of Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Vinnytsia were either damaged or destroyed.3
  • The ministry added that while the situation is being assessed and that emergency power was being sourced from Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, rolling blackouts may be introduced if supply doesn't reach the required levels.4
  • While Russia did not strike Ukraine's energy infrastructure this past winter as it did the year before — as Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin suggested this was for 'humanitarian' concerns — the attacks continued in March after Ukraine launched a series of strikes on Russian territory. At the time, Putin said that Russia 'had to respond.'1
  • After the most recent attack, which comes as Ukraine marked the defeat of Germany in World War II, Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy compared his Russian counterpart to the Nazi regime, stating: 'The entire world must understand who is who.' Russia marks the defeat of the Nazis on May 9.5

Sources: 1BBC News, 2Associated Press, 3Ukrainska Pravda (a), 4Ukrainska Pravda (b) and 5Interfax.

Narratives

  • Pro-Ukraine narrative, as provided by Interfax. Coming as Ukraine celebrated the defeat of Nazis in World War II, Russian Pres. Putin is repeating the same horrors in Ukraine that the world saw all those years ago. We must be just as determined to defeat Russian fascism as we were with previous forms of evil that walked the earth.
  • Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by Reuters. Russia, not wanting to leave Ukrainian hospitals and social institutions without power, refrained from striking Ukraine's energy infrastructure. However, after Ukraine continued to attack Russian territory beyond the scope of the war, Russia was forced to take decisive action and respond.

Predictions