Putin admits attacks on civilian infrastructure, asking: 'Who started it?' - The Washington Post

Holding a portion and speaking with a sneer, helium said planetary condemnation of the strikes “will not forestall america from completing our subject objectives.”

Since aboriginal October, Moscow has fired barrages of missiles astatine vigor and infrastructure sites crossed Ukraine, starring to rolling blackouts and depriving full neighborhoods of water, energy and successful immoderate cases vigor arsenic the freezing wintertime temperatures descend.

Ukrainian officials and immoderate Western leaders person described Moscow’s actions arsenic imaginable warfare crimes owed to their interaction connected civilians. The Kremlin insists that the bombardments person a subject purpose, but successful his remarks Thursday, Putin formed them arsenic tit-for-tat revenge.

The Russian president accused Kyiv of provoking the strikes, highlighting, successful particular, an onslaught successful aboriginal October connected the Crimean Bridge — a $4 cardinal awesome of Putin’s imperial ambitions successful Ukraine, connecting Crimea with mainland Russia.

Kyiv did not officially assertion work for that detonation but the lawsuit was wide celebrated successful Ukraine and officials person privately acknowledged the relation of Ukrainian peculiar services.

“Who struck the Crimean Bridge?” Putin asked. “Who blew up the powerfulness lines of the Kursk atomic powerfulness station?”

Putin besides accused the satellite of remaining soundless arsenic Ukraine mistreated citizens successful the predominantly Russian-speaking portion of Donetsk — though it was Russia that fomented a separatist warfare determination opening successful 2014.

“Who is not providing h2o to Donetsk,” Putin asked. “Not providing h2o to a metropolis of 1 cardinal radical is an enactment of genocide.”

Since Moscow’s attacks connected infrastructure began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called connected citizens to ration their powerfulness usage and question structure during aerial raid warnings.

“To get done this winter, we request to assistance each different much than ever and attraction for each different adjacent more,” Zelensky wrote connected Telegram connected Thursday. “To get done the winter, we indispensable beryllium much resilient and much agreed than ever.”