Russia attacks Ukrainian energy supply

Russia has damaged the energy infrastructure of the central Ukrainian region of Poltava with nighttime drone and missile attacks. According to the local military administration, "direct impacts and falling debris onto energy infrastructure facilities and open areas" were recorded in the Kremenchuk district. At least one person was injured, Poltava's military governor, Volodymyr Kohut, wrote on the Telegram online service. He did not provide details on the extent of the material damage.

According to media reports, around 50 explosions were heard in the industrial city. The internet portal Strana.ua published photos and videos purporting to show the attacks, including smoke and fire. According to the report, the Russian Air Force has once again attacked the refinery in Kremenchuk.

Drones, cruise missiles, hypersonic missiles

According to the Ukrainian air defense, Russia launched a total of 272 drones and drone imitations against Ukraine on Saturday night. More than 250 of these were either knocked off course by jammers or shot down. In addition, four Russian cruise missiles and one hypersonic missile were destroyed, it said.

Nighttime attacks on cities in Ukraine have been commonplace since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of the neighboring country more than three years ago. In February, Moscow and Kyiv, mediated by US President Donald Trump , agreed to exempt energy facilities from airstrikes as a first step in negotiations to end the war. The 30-day agreement has since expired, although both sides accused each other of violating the agreement even during that time. Peace in Ukraine is still nowhere in sight.

Territorial claim by footprint

Rather, Putin is reaffirming his war aims and his supposed claim to his neighboring country. At the economic forum in St. Petersburg, he also claimed regions for Russia that had not previously been designated as alleged Russian territory. For example, the capture of the city of Sumy in the northeast was not ruled out in principle. The president then went even further: "I consider Russians and Ukrainians to be one people," he declared. "In this sense, the entire Ukraine belongs to us," Putin asserted.

When asked by the moderator how far he intended to conquer the neighboring country, the Kremlin chief replied: "Wherever the foot of a Russian soldier stands, that belongs to us." He received applause from the audience. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded, saying Putin was clearly making it clear that he did not want peace. "Russia wants to wage war," Zelensky said in a video message.

"Pressure doesn't hurt yet"

There are constantly new threats from the Russian aggressors. "This means that the pressure exerted by the world is not yet hurting them," Zelenskyy emphasized. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha adapted Putin's quote, stating that wherever a Russian soldier sets foot, he brings death and destruction. Putin's statements undermine US peace efforts, Sybiha said.

In the more than three-year-long war of aggression , Russia has so far annexed the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson, but does not fully control them. Recently, Moscow threatened that further regions could follow suit if Kyiv did not agree to Russian demands. For example, Ukraine would have to cede territory and forgo Western military aid.

Overall, Russia occupies approximately one-fifth of Ukraine – in addition to the Crimean peninsula , which it annexed in violation of international law in 2014. Russian soldiers are continuing to advance, especially in the east of the attacked country. Just this Saturday, the Defense Ministry in Moscow announced that its own troops had captured another settlement in the Donetsk region. The information from the war zone cannot be independently verified.

jj/se (dpa, afp, rtr)