White House condemns Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian water and power infrastructure after stunning advance by Ukraine’s troops
- Ukrainian forces have made rapid advances in the past 48 hours
- But Russian strikes appeared to target water and power plans in response
- White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: ‘We condemn Russia’s airstrikes on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure’
- The Ukrainian military said it had retaken 20 settlements
The White House on Monday condemned Moscow’s attacks on critical infrastructure after Russian forces shelled power and water plants in Kharkiv and Donetsk as troops pulled back in the face of a rapid Ukrainian advance.
Ukraine’s military said its troops had freed more than 20 towns and cities in 24 hours.
But it provoked a barrage or air and artillery strikes, knocking out power and water in key locations.
‘We condemn Russia’s airstrikes on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure … leaving people in several cities without power and clean water,’ White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One.
‘We will continue to support Ukraine as it defends itself and hold Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine.’
She was speaking after Ukrainian troops enjoyed their most successful 24 hours in months of fighting.
After movement in the conflict had all but stalled, they regained momentum, capturing a swath of territory held by Russia since they invaded.
Firefighters work at a site of the 5th thermal power plant damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Sunday
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre old reporters traveling with her on Air Force One that the strikes left ‘people in several cities without power and clean water’
Ukraine’s counter-attack in the east has caused the Russian frontline to collapse, with Britain saying commanders appear to have ordered a retreat from the whole of the Kharkiv region. Meanwhile, in the south, Ukraine says some Russian troops stuck west of the Dnipro River are trying to negotiate their surrender
Such was their progress that the Russian Defence Ministry said troops would be pulled from two areas to regroup in the eastern region of Donetsk, which it has held since 2014.
At the same time, officials said they were uncovering fresh evidence of atrocities as they reclaimed settlements and they condemned strikes on critical infrastructure.
On Sunday night, President Volodymyr Zelensky said there was a ‘total blackout’ in the regions of Kharkiv and Donetsk.
‘[Russian Federation] terrorists remain terrorists and attack critical infrastructure,’ he tweeted.
‘No military facilities, the goal is to deprive people of light and heat.’
A missile strike on a power station on Sunday night caused a major fire, plunging Kharkiv into darkness.
Officials said another missile hit a residential building at about midnight, part of a fit of pique triggered by Russia’s territorial losses..
In all they said three people had been killed.
‘It’s dangerous to live in Kharkiv, every day is dangerous. It’s dangerous during the day and night,’ Kateryna Protsenko, a 29-year-old veterinarian living across the street from the apartment building, told the Associated Press.
‘The nights are sleepless, but anyway you continue to live because you have a family and you need to survive and work somehow.’
Firefighters work at a site of a building damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv
Ukraine’s flag flies on top of a radio tower in the city of Kupyansk, near Kharkiv, after it was recaptured at the weekend
The city’s mayor said more strikes followed on Monday.
‘Yesterday evening situation repeats again. Due to the shelling, critical infrastructure was put out of operation, resulting in the loss of power and water supply in Kharkiv,’ Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram.
Meanwhile, in the south of Ukraine, a second counter-attack near the city of Kherson was making steady progress with Nataliya Humenyuk – spokesman for the southern military command – saying some Russian troops were trying to negotiate their surrender this morning.
Humenyuk said the soldiers are among those stranded on the west bank of the Dnipro River. They have no escape route after Ukraine used US HIMARS missiles to destroy all of the main crossing points.
A report by British intelligence on Monday morning said: ‘In the face of Ukrainian advances, Russia has likely ordered the withdrawal of its troops from the entirety of occupied Kharkiv [region].
‘Isolated pockets of resistance remain in this sector, but since Wednesday, Ukraine has recaptured territory at least twice the size of Greater London.
‘In the south, near Kherson, Russia is likely struggling to bring sufficient reserves forward across the Dnipro River to the front line.
‘An improvised floating bridge Russia started over two weeks ago remains incomplete; Ukrainian long-range artillery is now probably hitting crossings of the Dnipro so frequently that Russia cannot carry out repairs to damaged road bridges.
‘The rapid Ukrainian successes have significant implications for Russia’s overall operational design. The majority of the force in Ukraine is highly likely being forced to prioritise emergency defensive actions.
‘The already limited trust deployed troops have in Russia’s senior military leadership is likely to deteriorate further.’
Russia’s defence ministry has attempted to play down the defeat as a ‘regrouping’ of troops from the cities of Balakliya and Izyum to nearby Donetsk in order to ‘boost efforts in the area’.
A counter-offensive by Ukrainian forces has seen troops push to within 30 miles of the border, amid reports panicked Russian troops have been abandoning tanks, weapons and supplies
Russian nationalists rage as Ukraine’s stunning counter-offensive makes huge gains – with Kremlin refusing to say if Putin still backs his commanders
Raging Russian nationalists called on Sunday for President Vladimir Putin to make immediate changes to ensure victory in the Ukraine war after troops were forced to retreat amid a series of strong Ukrainian counterattacks.
Ukraine’s troops on Saturday stormed east out of second city Kharkiv, smashing through Russian lines and liberating huge swaths of territory, including the key strategic city of Izyum along with several key transport and logistics hubs supporting Putin’s men in the Donbas.
The news prompted Chechen leader and Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov to publish an 11-minute-long rant on the Telegram messaging app, declaring that ‘changes must be made’ to turn the tide of the war.
‘If today or tomorrow changes are not made in the conduct of the special military operation, I will be forced to go to the country’s leadership to explain to them the situation on the ground,’ Kadyrov exclaimed.
Putin, who is Russia’s supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu are yet to publicly comment on the defeat.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov meanwhile declined to answer directly when asked by a reporter on Monday whether the Russian president had confidence in his military leadership.
‘The military operation continues,’ Peskov insisted, avoiding the question. ‘And it will continue until the goals that were originally set are achieved.’
Raging Russian nationalists called on Sunday for President Vladimir Putin (pictured) to make immediate changes to ensure victory in the Ukraine war amid widespread retreats in Kharkiv
Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov said he would be ‘forced to go to Russia’s leadership to explain the situation on the ground’ if changes are not made in short order
Neither Putin, nor defence minister Sergei Shoigu (centre left) have commented on the retreat
The widespread retreat of Russian troops from the Kharkiv region and Izyum came on Moscow Day – a holiday which marks the founding of the Russian capital in 1147.
Moscow’s almost total silence on the defeat – or any explanation for what had taken place in northeastern Ukraine beyond a claim its troops were simply ‘regrouping’ – sparked significant anger among nationalists and some pro-war commentators on social media.
Igor Girkin, a nationalist militant and former FSB officer who was involved in the orchestration of the Russian-backed war in eastern Ukraine in 2014 compared the collapse of one of the conflict’s principal front lines to the 1905 Battle of Mukden – a catastrophic defeat in the Russo-Japanese war which triggered Russia’s 1905 Revolution.
Girkin, who has been unsparing in his criticisms of the country’s top brass, dubbing defence minister Shoigu ‘the cardboard marshal’, has said repeatedly that Russia will be defeated in Ukraine if it doesn’t declare a nationwide mobilisation.
Meanwhile, one prominent pro-war military blogger who posts under the name of Rybar said on Telegram: ‘They’re taking the p***’.
‘Now is not the time to shut up and say nothing… this seriously hurts the cause.’
And Russian MP Sergei Mironov said on Twitter that a firework display in honour of the Moscow Day holiday should be cancelled in view of the military situation.
One message reposted on Telegram by the prominent war correspondent Semyon Pegov referred to the celebrations in Moscow as ‘blasphemous’ and the refusal of Russian authorities to embark on full-scale war as ‘schizophrenic’.
‘Either Russia will become itself through the birth of a new political elite… or it will cease to exist,’ it read.
Ukraine meanwhile has hailed its military’s rapid advance, which saw thousands of Russian soldiers flee, leaving behind ammunition stockpiles and equipment, as a turning point in the 6-month-old war.
‘Our army, intelligence units and the security services are carrying out active engagements in several operational areas. They are doing so successfully,’ Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address to the nation last night.
‘We are gradually taking control over new settlements. We are returning the Ukrainian flag and protection for our citizens everywhere,’ he added, claiming that more than 30 settlements had been liberated in the Kharkiv region.
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