Imagine if Philadelphia were totally blacked out for a dozen hours daily, with no water or heat and no electricity or cell phone coverage. Imagine if Philly high-rise apartment dwellers, including the elderly and moms with babies, had to lug water and food to upper floors because the elevators weren’t working. Imagine if surgeons at local hospitals had to operate by generator, and cars had to drive in total darkness while pedestrians navigated by flashlight.
This is the situation in Ukraine’s major cities, including the newly liberated city of Kherson, as Russian missiles pound civilian electrical grids and power stations in an effort to freeze citizens into capitulating. Russian officials baldly insist these missiles are aimed at military targets, even though the world can plainly see they are lying.
These missiles are the latest phase of Vladimir Putin’s genocidal effort to destroy the Ukrainian state and absorb its remains into Russia. Having lost military momentum, Putin is taking his revenge on the Ukrainian people — trying to freeze and starve much of the population into fleeing the country or pressuring their leaders to accept Russia’s terms.
