Ukraine warns of more attacks on infrastructure, as mayor urges Kyiv to
prepare for the worst
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[November 07, 2022]
KYIV/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ukraine's
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned on Sunday against more potential
Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, while the mayor of Kyiv urged
residents to consider preparing to leave temporarily if the capital lost
water and power supplies.
In regular nightly remarks, Zelenskiy said Russia was "concentrating
forces and means for a possible repetition of mass attacks on our
infrastructure. First of all, energy."
More than 4.5 million consumers were already without power, he added,
amid concerns that support for Ukraine could waver as the war's impact
on energy and food prices persists into winter.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who travelled to Kyiv on
Friday and pledged Washington's "unwavering and unflinching" support for
Ukraine, has held undisclosed talks with Russian officials designed to
avoid further escalation, the Wall Street Journal said on Sunday.
News of those contacts followed a report that Washington was urging Kyiv
to signal an openness to talks with Russia.
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Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said earlier on Twitter that
Ukraine would "stand" despite Russian attacks on its energy
infrastructure, by marshalling air defence, protecting infrastructure
and optimising consumption to do so.
The country faced a projected shortfall of 32 percent in power supply on
Monday, Sergei Kovalenko, the chief executive of YASNO, a major provider
of energy to the capital, said on his Facebook page.
The warnings followed remarks by Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko urging
residents to "consider everything", including a worst-case scenario in
which the capital loses power and water.
Residents should consider "spending some time" with friends or family
outside the city, he said in a television interview on Saturday, in
which he accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of deliberately
targeting civilian infrastructure.
"His task is for us to die, to freeze, or to make us flee our land so
that he can have it. That's what the aggressor wants to achieve,"
Klitschko added.
In the south, Russia and Ukraine continued to trade accusations as
Ukraine advances on the city of Kherson. Reuters was unable to
immediately verify battlefield accounts from either side.
Regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said Russian forces destroyed
about 1.5km of power lines, cutting supply to the city of Beryslav.
"It is likely that there will be no electricity in Beryslav until it is
fully freed from occupation," Yanushevych wrote on the Telegram
messaging app, adding that power lines to Kherson had also been
destroyed.
On Sunday, Russian news agencies said shelling by Ukrainian forces
damaged Ukraine's vast Russian-held Nova Kakhovka dam, upstream of
Kherson on the Dnipro river. They gave no supporting evidence, and
Reuters could not immediately verify the reports.
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![](../images/110722PIX/news_h95.jpg)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
speaks during a joint news conference with Czech Prime Minister Petr
Fiala (not seen), as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv,
Ukraine October 31, 2022. REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi
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Russian state-owned TASS quoted an emergency services representative
as saying a rocket launched by a U.S.-made HIMARS missile system had
hit the dam's lock, damaging it.
The official called the incident an "attempt to create the
conditions for a humanitarian catastrophe" by breaching the dam.
DIPLOMACY
The warnings came as the Wall Street Journal said Sullivan held
confidential conversations in recent months with Kremlin aide Yuri
Ushakov and Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev
that were not disclosed publicly.
Few high-level contacts between U.S. and Russian officials have been
made public in recent months, as Washington has insisted that any
talks on ending the war in Ukraine be held between Moscow and Kyiv.
The White House declined to comment on the report, responding only
with a statement attributed to National Security Council
spokesperson Adrienne Watson: "People claim a lot of things."
On Saturday, the Washington Post said the United States is privately
encouraging Ukraine to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia,
as the State Department said Moscow was escalating the war and did
not seriously wish to engage in peace talks.
The paper cited unidentified sources as saying the request by
American officials was not aimed at pushing Ukraine to the
negotiating table, but a calculated attempt to ensure Kyiv maintains
the support of other nations.
Zelenskiy signed a decree on Oct. 4 formally declaring the prospect
of any Ukrainian talks with Putin "impossible" but leaving the door
open to talks with Russia.
The White House National Security Council had no immediate comment
on the accuracy of the report.
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A State Department spokesperson responded: "We've said it before and
will say it again: Actions speak louder than words. If Russia is
ready for negotiation, it should stop its bombs and missiles and
withdraw its forces from Ukraine."
(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Simon Lewis and Simon
Cameron-Moore; Editing by Diane Craft and Clarence Fernandez)
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