Russia can’t win on the battlefield, so it’s finding other ways to torment Ukrainian civilians, Zelenskyy tells UN
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that Russia cannot defeat his people on the battlefield, so it is looking for other ways to break the Ukrainian spirit, deplorably by targeting its vital energy infrastructure as winter approaches.
“These are deliberate Russian attacks on our powerplants and entire energy grid,” he said, noting that it has destroyed all Ukrainian thermal power plants and a large part of the hydro-electric capacity.
“This is how [Russian President] Putin is preparing for winter, hoping to torment millions of Ukrainians – ordinary families, women and children, and ordinary towns and villages. Putin wants to leave them in the dark and cold this winter forcing Ukraine to suffer and surrender.”
President Zelenskyy asked the leaders, assembled in the General Assembly Hall for the annual general debate, to imagine the situation in their countries, if 80 per cent of their energy systems are destroyed.
“What kind of life will that be?”
He continued, noting that according to his intelligence, Moscow plans attacks on Ukraine’s nuclear power plants and their infrastructure with the aim of disconnecting them from the power grid.
“If, God forbid, Russia causes a nuclear disaster at one of our nuclear power plants, radiation won’t respect state borders, and unfortunately, various nations could feel the devastating effects,” he warned.
Further in his address, President Zelenskyy highlighted the failure of the Security Council in dealing with the war, noting that “when the aggressor exercises veto power, the UN is powerless.”
He contrasted that with his proposed peace formula, which he said is supported by nearly 100 nations and international organizations and in which “there is no veto power”.
“That’s why it’s the best opportunity for peace – everyone is equal, and it’s effective and comprehensive,” he said, noting also that it prioritizes nuclear safety, energy security, food security, the return of prisoners of war and the protection of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Against that backdrop, he criticized “alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans” to the peace formula, adding that such attempts “not only ignore the interests and suffering of the Ukrainians”, but also give “Putin the political space to continue the war”.
“Any parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are, in fact, efforts to achieve a lull instead of an end to the war,” he said.
“I want peace for my people – real peace and just peace. And I am asking for your support – from all nations of the world,” he added, “be united nations, and that will bring us peace.”
President Zelenskyy addressing the General Assembly.
Click here for the statement.
