Russia Continues To Attack Power Networks, Josep Borrell: Putin Is Trying To Make Ukraine A Black Hole

JAKARTA - European Union Foreign Affairs Chief Josep Borrell on Monday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to destroy Ukraine's power grid and plunge Ukrainians into darkness and cold, as temperatures plunged below freezing.

Borrell said that while speaking to reporters in Brussels, as he arrived at a summit of EU development ministers.

"Putin keeps bombing Ukraine. Putin keeps trying to make Ukraine a black hole, no light, no electricity, no heat," Borrell criticized as quoted by The National News on November 29.

"We must continue our support, providing Ukrainian citizens with more materials to face the winter without electricity," he said.

Earlier, EU member states were studying a recent proposal from the European Commission to support Ukraine with soft loans per month worth 1.5 billion euros next year to help the country keep its public services running and repair infrastructure destroyed by Russia.

The European Investment Bank and the City of Kyiv on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding, highlighting their commitment to collaborate on financing the modernization of the Kyiv metro at a cost of over 450 million euros to end its dependence on Russian parts.

They also agreed on the need to finance the reconstruction of social housing affected by the Russian bombing.

Separately, the World Bank estimates Ukraine's economy will contract by 35 percent this year.

It is learned that a new wave of Russian attacks on Ukraine caused the worst damage so far in the nine-month conflict last Wednesday, leaving millions of people without light, water, or heating.

Meanwhile, the temperature in the capital Kyiv this week is expected to drop to minus 8°C.

Sergey Kovalenko, chief operating officer of Yasno, which provides energy for Kyiv, said the situation in the city had improved but remained "pretty difficult".

Meanwhile, city authorities said workers were close to restoring electricity, water, and heating, but high consumption levels meant that several power outages had been imposed.

The Kremlin last week denied its attacks on Ukraine's power grid were aimed at civilians, but said Kyiv could "end the suffering" of its population by meeting Russia's demands to resolve the conflict.

In Kherson, a city in southern Ukraine that was abandoned by Russian troops this month, only 17 percent of network operator Ukrenergo's customers have electricity.