“On the east of Ukraine this has been happening for a long time. People are left without power. We repair and restore that. Russia’s task is to create chaos, to put psychological pressure on people with strikes on energy and on the railway”, - said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a meeting with journalists on October 8, RBC-Ukraine reports.
He reminded that the Poltava, Chernihiv, and Sumy oblasts are border regions. And, in particular, the strikes on Poltava are russia’s intent to deprive Ukraine of fuel.
“They strike our energy or the fuel generation center”, - Zelensky added.
Zelensky explained that Sumy and Chernihiv were directions of the enemy’s advance during the possible summer offensive of the occupiers. It also became clear then that the Pokrovsk direction is the enemy’s main objective.
According to the president, Ukraine’s position on strikes against russian infrastructure has not changed. But he noted that the Belgorod direction is one of the most intensive sources of strikes against Ukraine. That is why Ukraine carries out pinpoint strikes on facilities in the border oblasts of russia so that the enemy feels the cost of attacks.
“One of the most intensive directions from which strikes are launched at Ukraine is the Belgorod direction. From there there have always been missile strikes, aviation, bombs, etc. Where do missiles fly to the Kharkiv oblast from? Where did hundreds, already thousands of KABs come from? From there. They also strike the energy infrastructure of Kharkiv and the oblast from there”, - Zelensky said.
In his view, it is entirely fair that power outages will also be felt in Belgorod.
“We told them that they must understand: if they want to blackout us — we will do the same. There are no secrets here. The enemy must feel the price of this war. But we do not kill the civilian population”, - he emphasized.
The president noted that regarding the Belgorod and Kursk oblasts the distances are such that different types of weapons available to Ukraine can be used.
Zelensky confirmed that the enemy strikes Ukrainian logistics and railways. According to him, Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways) must work together with the military to protect stations and key nodes in order to ensure transport despite the attacks.
“They strike logistics. They strike both freight and passenger transport. It’s all intimidation. They will strike, and we must defend. Ukrzaliznytsia was present at the Headquarters. And the head of Ukrzaliznytsia has the task, together with the military, to protect stations and key nodes. We will do all of this”, - the president said.