New Delhi: Ukrainian 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.
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.
Adopting a new strategy, Russia is targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure as the winter season commences.
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian President said that the situation in the capital city Kyiv remained "very difficult" with efforts underway through the night to restore electricity. According to him, some other cities targeted by Russian strikes had restored power, including Lviv, Odesa, and Cherkasy.
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According to Ukraine, the missile barrage killed at least seven people. As per the BBC report, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko informed that at least 80% of the capital's residents had no power or running water.
The commander of Ukraine's armed forces, General Valeriy Zaluzhniy, said that the 67 cruise missiles were launched by Moscow and the air defences successfully intercepted 51. The Ukrainian military stated that Moscow also deployed attack drones again.
Ukraine's emergency services said that a newborn baby was killed in the southern Zaporizhzhia region when a missile hit a maternity unit.
Nuclear power plants also suffered an outage as three plants still under Ukrainian control were disconnected from the grid. Meanwhile, the Zaporizhzhia plant — Europe's largest — was forced to depend on diesel generators again to power its cooling systems and key safety equipment, the BBC reported.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has at several instances voiced grave concern about the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia plant, which has been subjected to repeated shelling leading to damage.
The missile strikes on power stations have caused "colossal" damage with more than half of the country's grid in need of repair, the BBC reported citing officials.
The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "weaponising winter" to cause widespread suffering.
"Having struggled on the battlefield, Moscow is now adopting a cowardly and inhumane strategy that punishes Ukrainian men, women and children," she said, as quoted by the BBC.
Zelenskyy has urged the United Nations to do more to help Ukraine.