Ukraine says’ It’s survived It’s ‘most Difficult Winter’

(Heavily Damaged houses in Svyatogirsk)

Russia has been pummelling critical infrastructure facilities in Ukraine with missiles and drones for months, disrupting millions of people’s water, heating and electricity supplies.

(Burnt Russian Uragan Multiple  Rocket Launcher &Destroyed houses)

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised Ukrainians for surviving a winter marked by systematic Russian attacks on energy facilities, which plunged millions into darkness and cold.

“We have overcome this winter. It was a very difficult period, and every Ukrainian experienced this difficulty, but we were still able to provide Ukraine with power and heat,” Zelenskyy said in his daily address on Wednesday.

(A damaged church)

Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba hailed the first day of spring as another “major defeat” for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

“We survived the most difficult winter in our history. It was cold and dark, but we were unbreakable,” Kuleba said.

(A Dubivka resident receiving  humanitarian aid supplies at a post office)

Aid organisations had warned at the beginning of winter that the targeted campaign would force a new wave of migration to Europe and that Ukraine’s priority would be “survival” through the months of freezing temperatures.

The Kremlin said Kyiv was responsible for civilians’ suffering stemming from the enormous outages because it had refused to capitulate to Moscow’s war demands.

(Engineers repairing damaged Electricity)

But the grid has been stabilising and Ukrainian energy provider Ukrenergo said on Wednesday that there had been “no power deficit” for over two weeks.

“Engineers are also continuing repairs at all power system facilities that were previously damaged by Russian missile and drone attacks,” it said.

(Resident charging phones and gadgets outside)

The war in Ukraine has seen Europe shake its deep reliance on Russian oil and gas amid waves of sanctions aimed at stemming Moscow’s ability to fund its military through energy revenues.