Russia destroys Ukraine's energy, water infrastructure

So has Ukrainian President Volodyyr Zelenskiy announced on Tuesday, while Moscow launched more missiles on infrastructure in what Kiev and the West call a campaign to intimidate civilians, writes Reuters.

The rockets hit power stations in the capital Kyev, where they killed three people, and in Kharkiv in the east, Dnepro and Krivy Rich in the south and Zytomyr in the west, causing water supply cuts.

Russia has openly acknowledged it has targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure with waves of missile attacks and fears since the beginning of last week.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said these actions are a legitimate revenge for the destruction of the bridge.

Kiev and the West say the deliberate attack on civil infrastructure is a war crime and attacks, aimed at leaving Ukrainians without heat and energy at the arrival of winter, are Putin's last tactic to escalate a war his forces are losing.

“The situation is now critical throughout the country... The whole country should be prepared for power outages, water and heating,” told Ukrainian television Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy chairman of the Ukrainian president's office.

Zelenskiy said Russia is continuing efforts to terrorise and kill Ukrainian civilians.

“Since October 10th, 30 percent of Ukraine's thermal power plants have been destroyed, causing massive disruptions across the country”, he wrote on Twitter.

Zelenskiy reiterated his refusal to negotiate with Putin, for whom he says he leads a <x0 terrorist state”.

He ruled out negotiations with Putin last month after the Russian leader announced annexing the four provinces of Ukraine.

Putin has also called hundreds of thousands of militias and has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons since mid-September, as his forces faced humiliating losses in the field of battle.

The news picture is illustrative