President Zelensky on Wednesday said Ukraine is preparing a “powerful countermeasure” against Russian forces and planning “new solutions” to deal with continued attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.
“We are analyzing the intentions of the occupiers and are preparing a countermeasure — an even more powerful countermeasure than now,” Zelensky said in his most recent nightly address to Ukrainians.
Though the president didn’t go into detail on what the countermeasure would look like, he said Kyiv is focused on issues in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, as well as Crimea and other front-line areas.
Ukraine mounted a successful counteroffensive against Russia earlier this year, delivering some battlefield setbacks to Moscow’s forces and pushing occupiers back to the border in some places. Now, the country is weathering an onslaught of Russian missile attacks and dealing with a battered power system.
“We considered the issue of providing for the military and supplying new equipment and ammunition. I separately held a meeting on energy and communication issues. … We are preparing new solutions. We are also preparing new solutions to prevent any opportunity for Russia to manipulate the internal life of Ukraine. We will provide details in due time,” Zelensky said.
Russia has been pounding Ukraine’s infrastructure for weeks in an apparent attempt to cripple the country’s energy grid ahead of the winter season, which Ukrainian officials have warned could be devastating to civilian life.
Zelensky said Wednesday that some 6 million Ukrainians are currently without electricity.
“We understand that terrorists are preparing new strikes. We know that for sure. And as long as they have missiles, they won’t stop, unfortunately. … Together and helping each other we will pass this challenge of war as well: this winter, this Russia’s attempt to use the cold against people,” Zelensky said in an address over the weekend.