Russia has regularly carried out such attacks since last fall, apparently hoping to weaken Ukraine’s resolve and force Kyiv to agree to peace on Russia’s terms.
The US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believes that these missile attacks will not be able to undermine Ukraine’s resolve and will not improve Russia’s position on the front lines, where Russia’s success has been less than stellar.
Oleh Zhdanov, a Ukrainian military expert, pointed out that Russia is attacking civilian infrastructure because it is unable to effectively attack Ukrainian military assets.
Russia lacks data on the location of Ukrainian troops and weapons, so they target civilian infrastructure and attack civilians to sow fear and panic in the public, Zhdanov said.
“Ukraine has survived the winter, and Russian attacks on the energy system in the spring do not make much sense,” he added.
Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv city war administration, announced today that electricity and water supply have been restored in the capital. He said that about 30% of consumers in Kyiv are still without heating and repairs are ongoing.
In the Kharkiv region, electricity supply has been restored to more than 90% of customers, local officials reported. On the other hand, electricity supply has been restored to a third of the customers in the Zaporizhia region.
Russia’s missile and drone attack on Thursday was the biggest in three weeks. Russia used more than 80 kamikaze missiles and drones, including Kinzhal ballistic missiles, which are considered to be among the most advanced in Russia’s arsenal.
Rockets also hit residential buildings, killing six people and temporarily leaving hundreds of thousands without heating or water.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense admits that the interval between missile strikes is increasing as Russia must stockpile the new missiles that are coming straight from the factories.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the missile strike was in response to a recent attack in Russia’s Bryansk region that Moscow blamed on Ukrainian saboteurs. Ukraine denied these accusations.
