Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for new sanctions against Moscow following renewed Russian missile attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure. There must be more pressure on Russia, Zelensky said in his video message distributed nightly in Kiev on Thursday night. He also criticized the fact that the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant was again temporarily cut off from the power grid by a rocket attack.
“This is a critical situation,” Zelensky said. Russia, therefore, can no longer be a reliable partner in the nuclear sphere. “It means that the sooner Russia’s nuclear industry is subject to sanctions, the safer the world will be. A terrorist state cannot use nuclear facilities anywhere in the world for terror,” Zelensky said, referring to Zaporizhia. Nuclear energy Russia builds and operates nuclear power plants in several countries.
The Ukrainian head of state complained that Russia’s attacks on civilian infrastructure on Thursday caused partial interruptions in the supply of electricity, heating and water in some regions and cities. Six people were also killed, Zelenskyy said. The situation is more difficult in Kharkiv, in the Zhytomyr region, west of Kiev.
“It’s not easy in Odessa, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, in Kiev and in Zaporizhia. Repair units, engineers, local authorities, central services – everyone will work until the power supply of cities and regions is restored,” he said. “No matter how insidious Russia’s actions are, our state and our people will not allow themselves to be chained. Neither missiles nor Russian atrocities will help,” Zelenskyy said.
The head of state also reported on a phone call with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who once again promised support for Ukraine. Thus, Zelenskyy also called for the expansion of sanctions against Russia during the conversation. At the same time, he once again emphasized that he expected Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations to start this year. The EU has always said that Ukraine still has a long way to go.