MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin denied on Thursday that its attacks on Ukraine’s power grid targeted civilians, but said Kyiv could “end the suffering” of its population by meeting Russia’s demands for a solution to the conflict.
And repeated rocket salvoes on energy infrastructure across Ukraine over the past few weeks have forced millions of people to go without light, water or heat for hours or days at a time, just as outdoor temperatures drop below freezing.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “there were no strikes on” social “targets and there are no strikes – special attention is being paid to this.”
“As for targets that have a direct or indirect relationship with military capabilities, they are therefore vulnerable to strikes,” he said.
Peskov was asked how the suffering of the civilian population in Ukraine could be reconciled with the positions of President Vladimir Putin. Putin said that Russia does not wish to destroy Ukraine or its people.
“The leadership of Ukraine has every chance to bring the situation back to normal, it has every chance to resolve the situation in such a way as to meet the requirements of the Russian side and, accordingly, to end all possible suffering among the population.”
Reporting by Reuters. Editing by Alex Richardson
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