Missile Strikes in Ukraine: Why Does Russia Target Energy Infrastructure, and Why Is It so Dangerous for Europe?
A military expert listed three mostly likely reasons for Russian missile strikes against Ukrainian energy facilities
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Missile strikes on October 10th and 11th are not related with appointment of Gen. Sergey Surovikin as the new commander of Russian forces in Ukraine.
Russia wants to continue blackmailing Europe with energy resources, and for this purpose it is depriving Ukraine of its ability to export power to the EU Member States, as military expert Dmytro Sniehyrov said in his interview for TSN.ua.
According to him, massive Russian strikes on October 10th and 11th are not related with appointment of Gen. Sergey Surovikin as the new commander of Russian forces in Ukraine. Surovikin was appointed on October 8th, and missile strikes, according to Ukrainian intelligence, had been planned since beginning of the month.
"There are some curious facts. On October 5th, Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed on oil production limitation to 2 million barrels per day. This is an unprecedented step that indicates that Russia somehow managed to solve the problem with further energy blackmail of the Western countries, and the EU in particular. Next, let’s pay attention to another curious coincidence. It is another clear indication that the missile strike is related neither to Surovikin’s appointment, nor to Crimea Bridge explosions. I mean the situation with legalization of Zaporizhzhia NPP. Before October 10th, Russia attempted to demonstratively finish this process of transferring Ukrainian assets into Russian management. Moreover, pay attention to the fact that ZNPP is now fully shut down. Let me remind you that ZNPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe (6 power generation units) producing up to 30% of all Ukrainian power”, the expert said.
According to him, the invaders targeted critical energy infrastructure facilities for a good reason. After the attacks, Ukraine announced that it wouldn't be able to continue its power export to the EU countries. Ukrainian export was one of the ways used by the EU to diversify its reliance on Russian oil and gas.
"Lack of Ukrainian power creates even more pressure on the European countries on the eve of upcoming heating season. I don’t even mean heating season disruption in Ukraine itself. Let’s take a look at potential future scenarios. On October 12th, Russian and Turkish leaders will meet in order to discuss resolution of Ukrainian crisis according to Russia’s proposals. They will propose a road map – the large deal involving the United States and the EU countries. I mean Russia attempts to push the narrative of deciding the fate of Ukraine without Ukraine on the international level. This is not an accident. Then we can conclude that the missile strikes on October 10th and 11th were of multi-vectoral nature”, Dmytro Sniehyrov said.
According to him, in light of the recent events, Russia likely pursued three key goals when attacking Ukrainian energy facilities.
"First, it’s energy pressure on Europe. It creates additional risks for the EU’s decision on Russian oil price cap. In the existing conditions, the West may face many difficulties with preventing further oil price growth and undermining Russia’ energy rule.
Second, it’s blocking Ukrainian electricity export.
Third, it’s disruption of heating season directly in Ukraine. They used cruise missiles and kamikaze drones to target 11 energy infrastructure facilities for a reason. It’s not even the nuclear, it’s energy blackmail of Ukraine”, the expert summarized.
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