Ukraine's Leadership ‘Can Stop All Possible Suffering': Russian Spox After Nation Grapples With Power Crisis

<p>New Delhi: Ukraine is grappling with a power crisis after Russia sent a new barrage of missiles to target the country's energy sources amid the winter season. This caused temporary shutdown of most of its power plants with &ldquo;vast majority&rdquo; of people without electricity.</p> <p>In response to the latest developments, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Ukraine&rsquo;s leadership can stop the suffering in the nation by agreeing to Russia&rsquo;s demands.</p> <p>&ldquo;The leadership of Ukraine has every opportunity to bring the situation back to normal, has every opportunity to resolve the situation in such a way as to fulfill the requirements of the Russian side and, accordingly, stop all possible suffering of the local population,&rdquo; Peskov said on Thursday in a call with reporters, as quoted by the CNN.</p> <p>According to CNN's report, electricity had been restored to &ldquo;all regions&rdquo; by Thursday afternoon. However, households were still &ldquo;gradually being connected to the grid,&rdquo; Kyrylo Tymoshenko, an official in President Volodymyr Zelensky&rsquo;s office, informed on Telegram.</p> <p>As per the Ukrainian armed forces, Russia launched 70 missiles on Wednesday afternoon of which 51 were shot down. The barrage included five attack drones.</p> <p>At least 10 people, including a teenage girl, were killed in the attack which also &ldquo;led to the temporary de-energization of all nuclear power plants, and most thermal and hydroelectric power plants,&rdquo; the Ministry of Energy stated, as quoted by the CNN.</p> <p>Much of Ukraine was left without power as well as heating, water supply and internet access in some areas amid the winter season. A video by the news agency Reuters showed people in the capital city of Kyiv queuing to collect water from public wells in the pouring rain.</p> <p>It was the first time when Ukraine&rsquo;s four nuclear power plants were simultaneously shut down in 40 years, the head of state nuclear energy company Energoatom informed in a statement.&nbsp;</p> <p>As per the World Nuclear Association, Ukraine is heavily dependent on nuclear energy and has 15 reactors at four plants that, before Russia&rsquo;s full-scale invasion in February, generated about half of the country's electricity.</p> <p>Adopting a new strategy, Russia targetted Ukraine's energy infrastructure as the bitter winter season commences.</p> <p>Ukrainian&nbsp;President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday addressed the United Nations Security Council, accusing Moscow of "crimes against humanity" after the Russian military's new missile strikes caused blackouts across Ukraine.</p> <p>The Russian "formula of terror" had forced "millions of people to stay without energy supplies, without heating, without water" in sub-zero cold, he stressed, as quoted by the BBC.</p> <p>Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko informed that at least 80% of the capital's residents had no power or running water.&nbsp;</p> <p>As per CNN, hospitals relied on generator power or even head torches worn by staff to continue with operations.</p> <p>In a Kyiv hospital, doctors performed heart surgery on a child with surgeons working by the light of their headlamps as they waited for the generator to kick in, a video posted by Dr. Borys Todurov showed.</p> <p>Notably, it has been nine months since Russia&rsquo;s February 24 invasion of Ukraine.</p> <p>&ldquo;Nine months. The amount of time in which a child is born. In nine months of its full-scale invasion, Russia has killed and injured hundreds of our children, kidnapped thousands of them, and made millions of children refugees,&rdquo; Ukraine's Defence Ministry wrote on Twitter.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Nine months.<br />The amount of time in which a child is born.<br />In Nine months of its full-scale invasion, russia has killed and injured hundreds of our children, kidnapped thousands of them, and made millions of children refugees.</p> &mdash; Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) <a href="https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1595780361010782210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <p> <script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script> </p> <p>Meanwhile, The European Union has announced that it would prepare the ninth package of sanctions against Moscow. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it an attempt &ldquo;to blunt even further its capacity to wage war on Ukraine&rdquo;, CNN reported.</p>