Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Sikorski honored Ukrainians suffering amid power and heating outages caused by Russian airstrikes.
“People are leaving major cities, including Kyiv. It’s a huge threat to Ukraine. These people did nothing to deserve this,” he said on Wednesday. “Deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure are a war crime.”
Since the start of the current heating season, Russia has launched 256 airstrikes on Ukrainian power facilities, including 45 major heating plants and 11 hydroelectric stations, according to Ukraine’s security service.
Recent strikes have left more than 1 million Kyiv residents without electricity, and over 4,000 apartment buildings without heating, amid sub-zero temperatures.
“There is practically no power plant in Ukraine that hasn’t been hit,” Andrzej Szabaciuk, an analyst at the Institute of Central Europe in Lublin, eastern Poland, said. “All are damaged or out of service.”
Szabaciuk said Russia’s strategy is to pressure Ukraine into capitulation by worsening humanitarian conditions.
“This is a sign of the Russian army’s weakness,” he said, as cited by Poland's PAP news agency. “After nearly four years, it hasn’t broken Ukrainian resistance, so it now targets civilians.”
Many Ukrainians have been forced to flee cities. In Kyiv, mobile heating stations—called “Points of Invincibility"—serve as shelters with warmth, electricity, and hot tea.
About 115 such tents are operating in the capital, having already helped 30,000 residents.
Kyiv residents gather outside a "Point of Invincibility," an emergency hub offering heat and electricity amid outages. Photo: EPA/MARIA SENOVILLA
“We are seeing weather-related deaths across the country, though officials don’t publish full numbers,” Szabaciuk said. “There’s a kind of self-censorship. Ukrainians don’t want to show Russia that its tactics work.”
Russia has intensified its strikes using missiles and drones such as Shahed and Gerbera.
A recent nighttime attack in the Odesa region involved 156 drones, according to Ukraine’s government.
To help, Poland has sent 400 power generators to Kyiv and nearby areas.
A crowdfunding campaign titled “Warmth from Poland for Kyiv” has raised over PLN 5 million (USD 1.4 million) from more than 40,000 donors to supply additional generators.
“It’s a spark of hope—-proof that someone remembers them and they are not alone," Szabaciuk said.
(jh/gs)
Source: PAP