Putin vows to continue hitting Ukraine’s power grid

(BBC) Vladimir Putin has vowed to continue attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure despite millions being left without electricity or water.

“Yes, we do that. But who started it?” the Russian president said at an awards ceremony in the Kremlin.

He said that criticism of Russian strikes would “not interfere with our combat missions”.

Moscow has been battering Ukraine’s power grid since 10 October, following a string of heavy military defeats.

Some Western leaders have called the strategy a war crime, because of the huge amount of damage caused to civilian infrastructure.

But President Putin said that growing global criticism would not stop the strikes.

“There’s a lot of noise about our strikes on the energy infrastructure of a neighbouring country. Yes, we do that. But who started it?” he said to recipients of state awards, including the “Hero of Russia” medal.

He said the strikes were in response to a blast on the Russian bridge to annexed Crimea on 8 October. He also accused Ukraine blowing up power lines from the Kursk nuclear power plant and of cutting water supply to Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

“Not supplying water to a city of more than a million people is an act of genocide,” Mr Putin said, accusing the West of “complete silence” on these claims and of bias against Russia.

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