Ukraine faces ‘toughest winter’ since Russia’s full-scale invasion, UN official tells BBC

Ukraine is facing its “toughest winter” since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, a top United Nations official told the BBC. Alexander De Croo, head of the UN development agency, said there was a risk of “humanitarian catastrophe” if Russian attacks cut off access to power and water. Speaking in Ukraine, De Croo – the UN’s third most senior official – accused Russia of systematically targeting the country’s energy infrastructure. He said there was now a “race against the clock” to repair the power network before winter sets in and temperatures plummet. Russia and Ukraine have been intensifying aerial attacks in recent months, and both deny deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure. Russia has started to use faster, jet-powered drones that are harder to intercept in recent around-the-clock attacks on Ukraine – and in particular Kyiv.

Many of the strikes have targeted Ukraine’s infrastructure, including businesses, warehouses, factories, petrol stations, as well as energy infrastructure. Ukraine continues to launch drone strikes deep into Russian territory, largely against gas, oil and business distribution facilities. Both countries deny targeting civilians. Deadly attacks have resumed after US President Donald Trump sent envoys for talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin and in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last weekend. Five people were killed and 67 others were wounded in a daytime Russian drone strike on a shopping mall in Pavlohrad, a city in Dnipropetrovsk region, on Thursday, Ukrainian officials say. Earlier in the week two other shopping malls were targeted by Russian air strikes, killing two people and injuring 28 people in the attacks on the cities of Zaporizhzhia and Sumy. Russia reported a Ukrainian seaborne drone…