Russia continues its devastating attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector, and here is why.

The series of Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy sector is part of a campaign aimed at freezing the country in winter, as well as forcing the West to adopt political decisions that are favorable to the Kremlin, says ISW.

The publication recalls that on the night of December 13, Ukraine repelled a record-breaking aerial attack on its energy infrastructure. Russian troops launched 94 missiles and 193 drones. Energy operator DTEK reported that the strike caused severe damage to thermal power plants.

The Russian Federation stated that this was in response to Ukraine’s attack on Taganrog on December 11 using Western missiles. However, according to analysts, this was just an excuse because Russian troops had been planning to carry out such a strike regardless and had been accumulating rockets for the attack on December 11.

“This was a signal aimed at supporting the Kremlin’s reflexive control campaign aimed at forcing Western countries to make decisions regarding Ukraine’s use of weapons provided by its partners and future peace negotiations that would be beneficial to Russia,” ISW believes.