Ukraine: Winter War looms, pockets of artillery fire erupt

Kherson, Ukraine –

Artillery shelling by Russian forces hit several parts of eastern and southern Ukraine overnight, as public works crews continued to scramble to restore power, water and heating after widespread strikes in recent weeks. , officials said on Sunday.

With snow blanketing the capital Kyiv on Sunday, analysts said winter weather, bringing icy terrain and harsh combat conditions, will increasingly affect the direction of the conflict, which has escalated since Russian forces invaded Ukraine. expected to give. 9 months ago.

But for the time being, heavy rains and muddy battlefield conditions have kept both sides bogged down, according to experts.

After at least two ferocious barrages of Russian artillery fire over the past two weeks, Ukrainian infrastructure teams have cut down key basic services as many Ukrainians deal with only a few hours of electricity per hour. We were deploying around the clock to recover. day – if any.

State-owned power grid operator Ukrenergo said on Sunday that electricity producers are supplying about 80% of demand. That’s an improvement from his 75% on Saturday, according to the company.

The War Research Institute, a think tank that closely monitors the situation in Ukraine, said reports from both sides indicated heavy rains and mud were having an impact, but it said that in the next few days there would be more threats along the front lines. Wider freezing than expected in

“It is unclear whether either side is actively planning or preparing to resume large-scale offensive or counteroffensive operations at that time, but the weather factors that have prevented such operations begin to dissolve. will,” it said in a memo issued on Saturday.

The ISW said Russian forces were drilling further east of the city of Kherson, which was ousted by Ukrainian forces more than two weeks ago, and continued “regular shelling” across the Dnipro River.

In eastern Donetsk, Governor Pablo Kirilenko said five people were killed in shelling in the past day. Nighttime shelling was reported by regional leaders in the western Zaporizhzhya and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

Kharkiv governor Olev Sinievbov said one person was killed and three wounded in the northeast.

A day earlier, a long convoy of cars, vans and trucks from the recently liberated city of Kherson said that after heavy artillery fire in recent days, further attacks from nearby Russian forces could loom again in the coming days. In the midst of the concern that there might be, we formed a formation and moved.

The head of the city’s military administration, Galina Rugova, said in an interview on Sunday that evacuation trains had been lined up and air-raid shelters had been set up in all city districts with stoves, beds, first-aid kits and fire extinguishers. .

“Everything you need,” she said.

“We are preparing for a difficult winter, but we will do everything to keep people safe,” Rugova said. Her biggest worry, she said, was “the artillery fire that intensifies every day. Artillery, artillery, and artillery.”

Some residents felt compelled to leave on the roads outside the city.

“The day before yesterday, artillery hit our house. Four apartments burned down. The windows were shattered,” said Vitaly Nadchi, with a terrier on her lap and a Ukrainian man hanging from her sun visor. I put the flag on the car and drove the car. “We can’t stay there. We have no electricity, no water, no heat. So we go to my brother’s.”

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Keaten reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.