Pentagon says Moscow's deliberate targeting of Ukrainian energy grids is a war crime
CNBCNov 13, 2022
According to Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak, more than 120 missiles were fired at Ukraine overnight, with blasts reported in Kyiv, as well as the regions of Lviv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltova, Odesa and Zhytomyr. Although a number of these were from missile-defense systems, the scale of the strikes reflects a renewed wave of Russian attacks on the country in the past 24 hours.
In Kyiv, local officials said three civilians were injured after debris from a downed missile hit a residential building. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that a total of 16 missiles were shot down over the capital. It was not immediately clear how many missiles evaded missile-defense systems, though there were reports of renewed power outages in the region.
Russia's deliberate targeting of energy infrastructure — unnecessarily increasing the suffering of civilians — amounts to war crimes. This continuing Russian barbarity must be confronted.
Attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure are a direct consequence of the failure of the country's leadership to meaningfully engage in peace talks and thinking they can defeat Russia on the battlefield. These attacks will stop once a more sober position is reached.
There's a 31% chance that Vladimir Putin will be charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court before 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.