While military aid of 60 billion dollars in favor of Kiev is still blocked by the American Congress, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned at the end of the week of the risk of a Ukrainian withdrawal from certain areas of the front due to the lack armament. Taking advantage of this weakness, Russia has increased air attacks against strategic infrastructure and Ukrainian cities in recent days. Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister of Poland, whose airspace was recently violated by a Russian missile, spoke of a risk of escalation in Europe.
Information to remember
⇒ Power outages in seven regions, after Russian strikes against energy installations.
⇒ Without military aid, Ukraine will have to “step back slowly”, deplores Volodymyr Zelensky.
⇒ For the Polish Prime Minister, Europe, where “all scenarios are possible”, must prepare for the possibility of war.
New power cuts after strikes in Ukraine
Ukraine on Friday imposed emergency power cuts in several regions and called on the West to help it face “barbaric” attacks, after new massive Russian strikes damaged three thermal power plants. Moscow has intensified its air attacks against Ukraine in recent weeks, targeting the energy network in particular. The Ukrainian air forces, for their part, assured that they had destroyed the vast majority of the 99 Russian missiles and drones – a particularly high number – launched during this new series of night bombings.
In total, ten regions were targeted across Ukraine and six people, including a child, were injured in these strikes, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said. Three Ukrainian thermal power plants suffered significant damage after Russian fire, said Ukrainian energy supplier DTEK, without specifying the location of the installations.
The national operator Ukrenergo said it was “forced to urgently carry out (power) cuts until the evening” in three new regions due to the “lack of production capacity” of electricity at the following the Russian “massive attack”. The Ministry of Energy indicated in the evening that it had carried out power cuts in total in seven regions, and asked the Ukrainians “for their understanding for these temporary difficulties”.
“If the United States does not take measures to prepare another counter-offensive, Russia will take them,” warns Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky once again sounded the alarm about the need for American military aid to continue the war with Russia, in an interview published this Friday, March 29 in the Washington Post. Since last year, the American Congress has blocked $60 billion in aid, with parliamentarians unable to reach an agreement.
“If there is no American support, that means we have no air defense, no Patriot missiles, no electronic warfare jammers, no 155-millimeter artillery shells,” he said. -he declared. This means that we will go backwards, step by step, by small steps.” “If the United States does not take steps to prepare for another counter-offensive, Russia will,” he added.
The Ukrainian president also acknowledged that he lacks air defense missiles to protect Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, while Russia has increased attacks on energy installations in recent weeks. “Without support from Congress, we will have a big missile deficit. That’s the problem.”
Volodymyr Zelensky also suggested that in the absence of arms deliveries to protect its territory, Ukraine would intensify its counterattacks on Russian strategic targets as a weapon of deterrence. As a reminder, last month, kyiv, for example, struck several Russian refineries.
Europe in the “pre-war era”, according to Donald Tusk
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that “war is no longer a concept of the past” in Europe, which has now entered the “pre-war era” according to him, during an interview with the press European. “The most worrying thing at the moment is that absolutely all scenarios are possible. We have not experienced such a situation since 1945,” declared the former President of the European Council this Friday.
“It seems devastating, especially for the younger generation, but we have to get used to the fact that a new era has begun: the pre-war era. I am not exaggerating.” “If Ukraine loses, no one in Europe will be able to feel safe,” he insisted.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, fears have emerged about a possible extension of the conflict to border countries. The Polish military said Sunday that a Russian cruise missile launched against towns in western Ukraine violated Polish airspace for 39 seconds.