kyiv restricts energy use; The EU sanctions Iran for the use of its drones in Ukraine

Ukrainians must now prepare for “rolling blackouts” just as winter approaches.

The announcement was made by the deputy head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, as a result of the Russian attacks that have severely damaged the country’s energy network.

From 7:00 am this Thursday, October 20, service rationing began throughout the country.

with the measure, kyiv expects to reduce by 20% the consumption of this resource in homes, transport and public lighting, explained the minister of the sector, Herman Halushchenko. The official added that citizens are also responding to the call “on a voluntary basis.”

“We see a drop in consumption… We see a voluntary decrease, but when it is not enough, we are forced to carry out forced closures,” said Halushchenko.

This is the first time that the Ukrainian government has imposed restrictions on the use of electricity throughout its territory since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the war on February 24.

The decision was made amid a barrage of attacks by Russian troops on electrical infrastructure in different Ukrainian regions, which, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, affected a third of all power plants.

According to the portfolio of Energy of the invaded nation, at least 300 air assaults on power facilities have been launched by Moscow troops in the last ten days.

kyiv also claims to have destroyed dozens of shells before they hit.

Russia acknowledges attacks on energy facilities

The Kremlin admits those actions, although it has not provided figures. In the last hours, the Russian Ministry of Defense assured that its troops continued to attack “military and energy targets” in the neighboring country during the last 24 hours.

The Kremlin’s new strategy seeks to “freeze” the Ukrainians in the face of the change of season, denounce the authorities of the attacked country and its Western allies.

“I think that Vladimir Putin is in an incredibly difficult position. What it reflects, in my opinion, is that it seems that the only tool left for him is to cruelly treat the citizens in Ukraine to try to intimidate them into surrendering. But they don’t they’re going to do that,” US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday, October 19.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Thursday that Putin uses “energy and hunger as weapons” but has failed to break the unity of the West.

EU agrees to new sanctions against Iran for alleged delivery of drones to Russia

For the recent attacks against Ukraine, kyiv and the West assure that the Russian military uses Shahed-136 drones, known as kamikaze, manufactured by Iran.

Given this situation, the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU), currently in charge of the Czech Republic, confirmed this Thursday, October 20, that the bloc of 27 countries agreed on new measures against Tehran.

“EU states decided to freeze the assets of three individuals and one entity responsible for drone deliveries (and) are also prepared to extend sanctions to four other Iranian entities that were already on a previous sanctions list,” the statement said. entity in a statement.

Nevertheless, Tehran denies supplying drones to Moscow. Also, the Kremlin rejects the accusation and in an attempt to dismantle the statement, he released a video in which he shows that they have self-made drones.

Moscow, which for days did not comment on the origin of these weapons, released the images just hours after the European Union agreed on the new measures against the Islamic Republic for alleged cooperation with the Kremlin by supplying it with the unmanned aircraft, capable of achieving great precision and causing the greatest possible destruction since they can fly up to 2,500 kilometers.

The United States, the United Kingdom and France indicated that there is “abundant evidence” that the drones used by the invading troops are Iranian, attacks that also leave at least civilians dead only in kyiv, the capital.

“Iran’s provision of drones is inconsistent with UN Security Council resolution 2231 and is further evidence of Iran’s role in undermining global security,” a British Foreign Office spokesman said.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is due to make an announcement on sanctions related to Iranian drones later this Thursday.

Moscow Continues “Evacuations” From Kherson; kyiv asks civilians not to follow the Russian order

Officials imposed by Moscow in the Kherson region, in southern Ukraine, continue to transfer civilians to Russian territory, justifying fears about the Ukrainian counteroffensive that is beginning to recover swaths of that area of ​​the country.

On Wednesday, Moscow reported that it expects to “evacuate” between 50,000 and 60,000 civilians in less than a week. An announcement that was described Thursday by Ukrainian officials as “a Russian propaganda show.”

Likewise, the Ukrainian authorities asked the population not to comply with the Russian request to leave the region.

Several people indicated that they received mass text messages warning that the city would be bombed and informed that the buses will leave the port starting at 7:00 am on October 20.

Andriy Yermak, chief of staff of the Ukrainian president, assured that the transfers of the population are forced and amount to “deportations”.

In the midst of the Ukrainian military counteroffensive that has recovered significant portions of its territories, the Putin Administration has renewed its tactics. Among them, he increased direct attacks on civilian infrastructure, mobilized at least 220,000 reservists and declared martial law in four Ukrainian regions he claims as his own: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia.

But military analysts point out that behind Russia’s eagerness to “evacuate” civilians hides the fact that it would not be able to defend the inhabitants of a region that it now claims belongs to it.

British intelligence agencies note that Russia’s recent admission that a “difficult situation” has arisen in Kherson is highly unusual and likely indicates that the authorities are considering a major withdrawal of its forces from the area west of the Dnipro River.

With Reuters and local media