Putin met with his ally Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk this Monday, the 19th; Ukraine fears a new offensive in early 2023
KONSTANTIN ZAVRAZHIN / SPUTNIK / AFP
Russia launched a new attack on the capital of Ukraine🇧🇷 Kyivwith kamikaze drones this Monday, 19, just before the Russian President, Wladimir Putinmeet with the ally of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, in Minsk and after the announcement of joint exercises with the Chinese Navy the training will take place this week. The attacks on the capital further damaged Ukraine’s infrastructure, which is already in critical condition from previous bombings. “During the air alert, we recorded 23 enemy UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) in the sky over the capital. Air defense destroyed 18 drones,” the Kyiv military command said on social media. Russian forces have been using bomb munitions called “Shahed” with which they have been hitting the Ukrainian capital in recent weeks, he added. Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed explosions in the capital’s Solomiansky and Shevchenkivskyi districts and that several critical infrastructures were “damaged”.
After the attack, Ukrainian electricity operator DTEK announced emergency power outages. “All night long enemy drones tried to attack power plants, which led to a difficult situation for the system (…) and emergency shutdowns in Kyiv and 10 other regions of the country, said the operator Ukrenergo. Attacks on the capital intensified from October after Moscow suffered a series of military setbacks. Since then, Russia has decided to bomb the country’s power plants and infrastructure on a large scale, leaving millions of Ukrainians without light and water on the eve of winter (Northern Hemisphere). The Ukrainian authorities fear a new offensive in the first months of 2023. During his daily speech, the Ukrainian President said Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted that “protecting the border with Russia and Belarus is an ongoing priority. We are preparing for every possible scenario.”
Putin’s visit to Belarus
Putin arrived in Belarus on Monday and was met at the airport by his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko. The summit between the two leaders comes at a time when Ukrainian officials fear that Russia will launch a new fullscale offensive against Kyiv in the first months of 2023. The Russian army fueled those fears, saying on Monday it was engaging in “tactical” actions in Belarus after Minsk announced in October the formation of a joint force with Russia made up of thousands of soldiers. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that the Russian president traveled to Belarus to persuade Minsk to get directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, calling such accusations “stupid” and “baseless”.