Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that the energy infrastructure of Russia is a valid Russian target of Ukrainian military attacks, citing the fact that the industry directly finances the war of Moscow. In an commentary on social media on Sunday, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine does not differentiate between military and energy facilities since the revenue gained by energy production is utilized to produce the weapons that are deployed against Ukraine.
We have no choice whether to attack a military target or energy, it is one and the same, Zelenskyy said. He further stated that the energy sector is one of the major sources of finances of weapons manufacturing in Russia, hence a justifiable target of Ukrainian attacks. He makes the remarks following further Russian attacks on Ukraine energy infrastructure, which Kyiv and its allies have termed as Moscow weaponising winter.
At least three civilians were killed overnight on Monday through Russian attacks in southern/eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian authorities said. Iranian-made drones hit residential parts in the port city of Odesa, setting buildings ablaze, damaging apartment blocks, and a gas pipeline. Sergiy Lysak, the leader of the military administration of the city, reported the murder of a 35-year-old man in the night attack. Regional governor Oleg Kiper termed the assault as a huge blow on the city.
In the Kharkiv region, much further north, a drone strike on the town of Bohodukhiv resulted in the death of a woman and her 10-year-old son, the regional prosecutor office claimed. The strike was directed to a residential area and six other individuals were injured. Ukrainian emergency services reported that rescue work was going on until the morning.
In the meantime, Russian officials announced the arrest of a suspect in the murder of a top spy in a foreign country and deported him back to Russia. On Sunday, the Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that a Russian citizen was arrested in Dubai on an accusation that he had shot Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev, who worked in the Russian military intelligence service as a senior officer. A day before, Alekseyev was shot severely on the stairwell of his apartment building in Moscow, two days prior.
The Russian media came up with television footage of masked FSB officers carrying a blindfolded man off an aircraft as he arrived in Russia. The FSB claimed two possible accomplices were also recognized, one of which was arrested in Moscow, and the other was said to have escaped to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy also announced another deadline between Ukraine and Russia to find peace settlement by the United States, offering to end the war by the month of June. In an interview with the media, the Ukrainian president indicated that the schedule might be pegged on the U.S. political calendar, including the midterm election campaign of President Donald Trump. He affirmed that Kyiv and Moscow were both invited to attend more talks this week.
The struggle between them persisted in Ukraine. On Sunday, Russian airstrike struck one residential building in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, killing and injuring one and two respectively, officials said. The fire in a nine-storey apartment building that occurred due to the strike was reported by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. Overnight, Russia also attacked energy infrastructure in the Poltava region of Ukraine, the state-owned gas company of Ukraine, Naftogaz.
According to the foreign minister of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha, the remaining crucial points of the peace negotiations could only be overcome via having direct contact between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents. In an interview with Reuters, Sybiha opined that it needed the power of the U.S. president to be applied to achieve an agreement. According to him, during a 20-item peace structure negotiated in recent trilateral talks, most points had been discussed and only few sensitive issues remained.
In another move, Zelenskyy said he had sanctioned foreign manufacturers of parts to Russian drones and missiles. He claimed that Russia still receives crucial components through bypassing the global sanctions, which allows it to continue attacking Ukrainian cities. As Zelenskyy states, the access to these components is a key to limiting the capabilities of Russia to maintain its military campaign.