A key Putin propagandist has said Russia wants to see Kyiv “drowning in sewage” as it attacks basic utilities and civilian infrastructure, aiming to make the Ukrainian capital unliveable.
After killing almost 80 civilians in two days of hell, a chorus of Russian sources today said the twisted dictator now aims to make the Ukrainian capital unliveable.
Mayor urges temporary relocation
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko urged residents with friends and relatives outside the city to urgently temporarily relocate, warning: “Today the issue is survival”.
The former world heavyweight champion boxer insisted he would never call for a full evacuation.
“That's Putin's goal...the best scenario for Putin is that we all leave and hand over our empty cities and our country to him,” he said.
Russia has pummelled bridges and power plants in Kyiv and the call for those who can to exit the capital comes despite his claim that the city is backing up supplies of heating systems and stockpiling fuel, food, and drinking water for the oncoming cold winter when temperatures can plunge to -20C.
“Every day, we receive new reports of destroyed buildings, injured, and dead – the shelling of our city is intensifying,” he told AFP.
Propagandists gloat over sewage chaos
Putin propagandists were today gloating over sewage chaos in Kyiv as fears grow Russia is seeking to make Ukrainian cities uninhabitable this winter.
State media war fanatic Andrei Medvedev said Russian wanted to see Kyiv “drowning in sewage” with power cuts crippling the waste disposal system.
The Putin propagandist claimed it was “God's wrath” against Ukrainians.
Amid reports of one district already suffering sewage breakdown, war correspondent Yuri Kotenok said Ukrainians should face a “corresponding smell.”
Fighterbomber channel declared: "The Kyiv sewage system is temporarily not accepting wastewater from the Borshchagivka community due to a power outage at the water canal facilities. Good news, thank you."
This came as Putin - who always travels abroad with a portable toilet to prevent his DNA from urine and faeces being analysed by foreign intelligence agencies - was in Turkmenistan on a rare international trip.
Public-health emergency warning
Ukrainian critical-infrastructure expert Viktor Kurtev warned prolonged disruption to sewage pumping could create a serious public-health emergency.
This came as Moscow denied swirling rumours that Russia's “cruelest commander” Sergei Surovikin - aka General Armageddon - had been brought back from Putin's African corps to spearhead the new strikes on civilians and key infrastructure.
“He is on leave in Moscow now but is being sent back to Africa for three more years - Putin is perfectly capable of being his own Armageddon,” said a source.
After the latest Russian strikes, the metro shut down in parts of Kyiv and the city was hit by power cuts.
Wider strikes and response
Kyiv was one of 30 Ukrainian cities and towns targeted overnight by Putin.
NATO scrambled fighters over Poland “due to strikes by the Russian Federation against targets in western Ukraine,” said Warsaw's operational command.
“These measures are precautionary and aimed at securing and protecting Polish airspace, particularly in areas adjacent to the threatened regions.”
Western city Ivano-Frankivsk was hit with one fatality.
Another was killed in a guided aerial bomb attack in Zaporizhzhia.
A day earlier at least 78 people were killed and 215 wounded in Russian “war crime” attacks across Ukraine over two days, including the bombing of two passenger buses and an apartment building.
Amid the savagery, the US will host peace talks today with Ukrainian negotiators in Miami.
Ukraine hit back against the Russian onslaught by striking a defence plant in Redkino, Tver region, which makes fuel components for Putin's Kh-55 and Kh-101 cruise missiles.
There was mass air disruption in Moscow due to a Ukrainian drone surge, with international flights having to turn back due to safety concerns.
Three of Moscow's four major airports - Domodedovo, Vnukovo, and Zhukovsky - were closed through the night as flight chaos becomes a regular problem for the Russian capital.
A man, 57, was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike in Moscow region.
Two were killed in a Kyiv strike on Russian border region Belgorod.
