Preparation for winter: 4000 warming rooms for freezing Ukrainians

In thousands of warming rooms, Ukrainians are to be cared for in winter. Internet, electricity and water are also available there, according to President Zelenskyy. Russian attacks on infrastructure regularly lead to outages.

Russia-invaded Ukraine is using thousands of public warming rooms to get its people through a cold and dark winter. More than 4,000 such “stability points” in schools and administrative buildings have already been prepared, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. More should follow. “All the basic services are provided there,” he said. “This includes electricity, mobile communication and the Internet, heat, water, first aid. Completely free of charge and around the clock.”

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko underscored the seriousness of the situation in the Ukrainian capital, which has three million inhabitants: “This is the worst winter since the Second World War,” he told the “Bild” newspaper. Because of the Russian rocket attacks on the electricity grid, Ukraine is struggling with power outages, and the attacks are also leading to major problems with district heating, water and gas supplies.

The European Parliament wants to vote on a resolution that will designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism because of the attacks on civilian targets.

“Stability Points” become active within hours

“Should there be another massive Russian attack and the power supply cannot be restored within a few hours, the work of the ‘stability points’ will be activated,” said Zelenskyy. Local authorities should provide information on where to find support in the event of a prolonged power outage. Companies are also asked to provide rooms and other aids.

Klitschko: Be prepared for the “worst scenario”.

For Kyiv, Mayor Klitschko said that one had to be prepared for the “worst scenario” of widespread power failures at low temperatures: “Then parts of the city would have to be evacuated, but we don’t want it to get that far.”

The ex-boxing world champion accused Russian head of state Vladimir Putin of wanting to drive even more Ukrainians to flee by attacking civilian infrastructure. “But that’s not going to happen. My impression is that people are only getting angrier, more determined. We’re not going to die or flee like Putin wants us to.” Klitschko asked Germany to urgently send generators, protective clothing and humanitarian goods in addition to weapons.

Ukraine: Russia has enough missiles for more attacks

According to the Ukrainian Security Council, Russia still has enough missiles for three to four attacks of the same severity as on November 15. At that time, about 100 rockets were fired. “The Russians have resorted to a shameful practice of destroying the infrastructure on which the lives of the elderly, children and women depend,” Council Secretary Oleksy Danilov told Radio Liberty. “That means we’re going to have a difficult winter. But that doesn’t mean we should give up or capitulate.”

Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov published an overview of the allegedly remaining Russian missile arsenal, although the information from Kyiv cannot be independently verified. 829 of the Iskander-type surface-to-surface missiles, more than four-fifths of the existing stock, were said to have been fired. In the case of Ch-101 and Ch-555 air-to-ground missiles, half of the arsenal is still there.

Zelenskyy: 2000 cities and villages to liberate

As in the previous days, ground fighting was mainly reported from the Donbass in eastern Ukraine. There were reports of an attack by Ukrainian drones from the city of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia on Tuesday evening. City chief Mikhail Rasvozhayev announced that two drones had been shot down. They should have attacked a power and heating plant in the Balaklava district. The Black Sea Fleet intercepted three more drones over the sea near the port city.

As the naval base of the Black Sea Fleet, Sevastopol is strategically important for Russia. The Ukrainian military has repeatedly attacked the city from the air with combat drones and once from the sea with remote-controlled unmanned boats.

According to Zelenskyj, around 2,000 towns and villages occupied by Russian troops still have to be liberated across the country. According to the Presidential Office in Kyiv, he said this in a video message for French local politicians. A few dozen places such as the port city of Mariupol on the Azov Sea or Wolnowacha in the Donetsk region were completely destroyed by Russian attacks.