Zelensky Warns of Winter Power Crisis After Deadly Russian Strikes
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the country has almost no intact thermal power plants left ahead of winter, after overnight Russian strikes killed four people, including a child, in the Kyiv region.
Speaking during a visit to Belgrade on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the country was heading into winter with virtually no working thermal power plants left, following repeated Russian strikes on energy infrastructure. These plants are an important complement to nuclear power, which also supplies Ukraine's grid.
Zelensky said that combined overnight strikes and shelling of frontline communities had killed 13 people over the previous 24 hours. Among the dead was a three-year-old boy, killed in a strike on a village outside Kyiv; his parents, his 15-year-old brother, and a neighbor who came to help were injured, with the neighbor hurt in a follow-up strike. Explosions were heard across the capital overnight, and Ukraine's air force warned of the threat of ballistic weapons fired from the north.
Calls for tougher sanctions
Meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Zelensky renewed calls for tougher sanctions to stop missile components from reaching Russia from various continents, including from Ukraine's own partners. He also stressed the need for greater access to interceptor missiles as long-range strikes increase.
The trip marked Zelensky's first official visit to Serbia since taking office in 2019. Vucic said no military cooperation was discussed and that his government's policy remained unchanged, though he reaffirmed unwavering support for Ukraine's territorial integrity. Serbia remains one of the few European countries that has not imposed sanctions on Russia, a longtime ally of Belgrade.
