Russian strikes aim to cut Ukraine in half, Zelenskyy warns

{"text":[[{"start":9.78,"text":"Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned European partners that he expects Russia to launch sustained attacks on its bridges across the Dnipro river in an effort to cut the country in half."}],[{"start":20.5,"text":"The Ukrainian president raised the warning during a recent call with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, saying that Moscow wanted to leave the eastern half of the country bordering Russia isolated from the western half bordering the EU, according to people briefed on the conversation."}],[{"start":36.2,"text":"Zelenskyy and von der Leyen, in statements released Monday, also said they had co-ordinated positions ahead of peace talks between Kyiv, Moscow, US and EU officials on Tuesday and Wednesday in Abu Dhabi."}],[{"start":48.72,"text":"Zelenskyy reiterated the warning in his evening address on Monday, saying that he had discussed with von der Leyen “in detail the challenges posed by Russia’s operation against our bridges and power grid”."}],[{"start":59.84,"text":"He added: “Russia is trying to divide Ukraine along the Dnipro river and make life as difficult as possible for people, for our cities and villages.”"}],[{"start":68.66,"text":"The Dnipro river divides Ukraine from north to south, flowing through Kyiv and the south-eastern cities of Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson before reaching the Black Sea. In the south, the country’s main waterway forms a natural frontline between Ukrainian and Russian forces."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":84.08,"text":"Parts of Kyiv have experienced hours-long blackouts and traffic jams, underlining the mounting pressure on Ukraine’s energy, transport and critical infrastructure, as Russia further intensifies its campaign against the country’s civilian and military supply networks."}],[{"start":99.6,"text":"“I told Ursula about the challenges, and we agreed that the European Union would activate a special emergency mechanism . . . to quickly provide Ukraine with funding for what is needed most right now,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on Monday."}],[{"start":110.34,"text":"“Right now, many of our cities and communities are facing a very difficult situation with power, water, and heating supplies due to Russian strikes,” he said, adding that the situation was “most difficult in Kyiv, the Dnipro, Sumy and Donetsk regions, and Kherson”."}],[{"start":124.8,"text":"A senior Ukrainian official said the Russian attack plan was not only to sever Ukraine in two but also to cut power distribution from the west of the country to the east, which would leave millions in darkness in the dead of winter."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":136.48,"text":"Von der Leyen said on Monday that she had “reiterated my support for [Zelenskyy’s] call for a ceasefire covering food and energy infrastructure” ahead of the first round of trilateral peace talks between Kyiv, Russia and the US in Abu Dhabi starting on Tuesday. The talks had been paused since late February, when the Trump administration launched its war against Iran."}],[{"start":156.36,"text":"Since October, Russia has increasingly targeted Ukraine’s bridges spanning the Dnipro as part of its air campaign against critical infrastructure ahead of the winter, when it hopes to break Kyiv’s resolve and force it to capitulate."}],[{"start":168.68,"text":"Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, views the strikes as retaliation for Ukraine’s own campaign against Russian energy and logistics infrastructure, according to people briefed on his thinking."}],[{"start":178.46,"text":"Several Russian ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones have hit the North and South bridges in Kyiv, damaging pillars and leaving craters in the asphalt. Damage to even one bridge can disrupt civilian and military supplies and complicate the movement of emergency services. An attack on Saturday paralysed much of the Ukrainian capital, causing traffic jams and forcing people to walk instead of drive."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":201.08,"text":"For Kyiv’s almost 4mn residents, there are just eight bridges connecting the capital’s eastern and western banks — carrying commuters and pedestrians, as well as trucks and other vehicles that keep the country moving."}],[{"start":212.2,"text":"The next crossing over the Dnipro north of the capital is the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant, which doubles as a bridge, about 16km from the North Bridge. In the opposite direction, the closest crossing is the Kaniv Hydroelectric Power Plant about 130km from the South Bridge. There are only a handful of passable bridges connecting the east and west of Ukraine beyond that."}],[{"start":234.52,"text":"Analysts said any bridges that were rendered impassable by Russian attacks would be likely to complicate Ukraine’s military logistics, with the battlefield confined to the country’s eastern half."}],[{"start":244.44,"text":"“Sustained strikes on the Dnipro bridges would impact Ukraine’s flow of ammunition, fuel and reinforcements from west to east into a handful of crossings,” said Franz-Stefan Gady, a Vienna-based military analyst."}],[{"start":258.22,"text":"“Because heavy equipment and bulk ammunition mostly move by train, destroyed rail bridges would make it harder for Ukraine to shift reserves quickly to threatened sectors of the front.”"}],[{"start":267.88,"text":"Russia, however, was unlikely to fully cut off eastern Ukraine, he said. “But it doesn’t really need to: the goal here is friction and attrition, and the key questions are for how long Moscow can sustain the strike campaign and how Ukraine allocates its already scarce air defences to protect the crossings.”"}],[{"start":285.36,"text":"Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said in the past, Russian strikes against bridges had been sporadic and “it would take a concerted strike effort to disrupt bridge traffic across Dnipro.”"}],[{"start":298.42,"text":"“Even then Ukraine can put up pontoon bridges,” he added."}],[{"start":301.52,"text":"Kyiv’s authorities have already floated the idea of launching pontoon bridges to help ease civilian traffic, but none have been deployed."}],[{"start":309.26,"text":"Ukraine has struggled to defend its bridges and other critical infrastructure as a result of its lack of Patriot interceptors. The American-made missiles are the only munition in Kyiv’s arsenal that can reliably shoot down Russia’s ballistic missiles. Global shortages as a result of the US war in Iran have meant Washington and Ukraine’s European allies have been wary of parting with their stocks."}],[{"start":330.52,"text":"Making matters worse for Kyiv, Serhiy Beskrestnov, an adviser to Zelenskyy, said Russia’s ballistic missiles were hitting the bridges with greater accuracy because of a newly produced sophisticated guidance system that helped them skirt around Ukraine’s navigation jammers."}],[{"start":344.98,"text":"He wrote on Telegram: “As the warhead descends, it performs a radar scan of the terrain over the course of a few seconds, and a correction is then fed into the missile’s guidance system.”"}],[{"start":354.42,"text":"Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, declined to comment on Ukraine’s claims. “We are waiting for the talks tomorrow and continuing the special military operation,” Russia’s euphemism for its invasion, he told the FT."}],[{"start":373.34,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1794281386_2344.mp3"}