Putin: Attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure a response to Kiev’s strikes on Russia’s power lines

Russian President Vladimir Putin says that the attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure were a response to Kiev’s strikes on Russia’s power lines.

Speaking during an awards ceremony on Thursday at the Kremlin, Putin said Ukraine provoked the strikes by conducting an attack in early October on the Crimean Bridge, connecting Crimea with mainland Russia.

“There is a lot of noise right now about our strikes against the energy infrastructure of the neighboring country,” Putin said. “Yes, we are doing this. But who started it?”

“Who struck the Crimean Bridge?” he asked. “Who blew up the power lines of the Kursk nuclear power station?”

On October 8, A truck bomb went off on the arterial bridge, setting fire to seven oil tankers that were being carried by rail to Crimea.

"There is no doubt this is a terrorist act aimed at destroying critical Russian civilian infrastructure," Putin said then.

Car bomb sparks huge fire on Crimea bridge, celebrations in Ukraine

A car bomb blast on a key road and rail bridge linking Crimea to Russia has sparked a massive fire, prompting gleeful messages from Ukrainian officials.

Also on Thursday, the Russian president accused Ukraine of not supplying water to the Russian-controlled Donetsk region, saying such acts amounted to genocide.

“Who is not providing water to Donetsk,” Putin asked. “Not providing water to a city of 1 million people is an act of genocide.”

Russian authorities accuse Ukrainian forces of heavily shelling Donetsk, however, the Ukrainian side denies the allegation of targeting own civil population.

The war in Ukraine is in its 10th month now. Both Russia and Ukraine have stepped up their attacks in recent weeks, with each side blaming the other for targeting civilians and non-military positions.

Russia started its military operation in Ukraine on February 24. At the time, Putin said one of the goals of what he called a "special military operation" was to "de-Nazify" Ukraine.

Since the onset of the conflict between the two countries, the United States and its European allies have imposed an array of sanctions on Russia and sent numerous batches of advanced weapons to Ukraine.

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