Vladimir Putin hopes to freeze civilians by bombing power infrastructure
. Exhausted staff are at their wits’ end, unable to change nappies or wash their patients, as protocols require. The centre’s cold, mostly bed-ridden residents are afraid. “I’m freezing,” some of them murmur, as they fumble their way down darkened corridors, helped by staff with head torches.
Seven waves of Russian missiles targeting critical civil-energy infrastructure suggest she has a point. The first attacks, on October 10th, came largely from cheap, Iranian-produced drones. They overwhelmed air-defence systems with sheer numbers, allowing more potent missiles to zip by. By now Ukraine manages to shoot down almost all of the drones before they hit their targets. But Russia has learned how to manoeuvre and target its cruise missiles better, too.
Much of the Russian onslaught is aimed at the 100 or so substations that transform the grid’s high-voltage electricity to lower voltage for onward distribution to districts and homes. Ukraine’s grid runs at a higher voltage than most of those in Europe, which means that the destruction of the highest-voltage transformers is a big problem: the parts are expensive, in short supply and take several months to manufacture.
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