It came as Moscow’s troops unleashed a barrage of around 150 missiles at power installations throughout Ukraine, leaving millions without heat or lighting. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mouthpiece Dmitry Peskov made the “war” statement even though Russians have been jailed for up to seven years for calling the conflict a “war.”
And he raised the chilling likelihood of a new military mobilization across his country, with fresh conscripts having to face the Ukraine frontline. Putin’s spokesman declared: “We are in a state of war.”
Read more: Vladimir Putin wants 'incompetent' Donald Trump to win US election to 'undermine American power'
“Yes, it started out as a special military operation, but as soon as…the collective West became a participant in this on the side of Ukraine, for us it already became a war," he said. “I am convinced of this. And everyone must understand this for their internal mobilization.”
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and the Five Fab 1500 have also been ramped up.
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His phrase “internal mobilization” signals Putin’s aim to put the whole country on a war footing. Thousands of Russians have been punished - some jailed, others fined - for describing the conflict as a “war”.
Municipal politician Alexei Gorinov was jailed for seven years for asking for a moment’s silence to remember “war victims”. It came as Russia attacked power facilities throughout Ukraine, leaving millions unable to heat their homes.
This was the largest assault on Ukraine's energy infrastructure this year and one of the largest since the outbreak of the war. Ukraine’s head of energy utility Ukrenergo, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said: "Even last winter, attacks on our energy system were not as large as they were this night.”
Last winter, Russia deliberately targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, resulting in frequent blackouts across the country. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been urging Ukraine's Western allies for weeks to provide additional air defense systems and ammunition amid delays in aid from the U.S.
"With Russian missiles, there are no delays, like with aid packages to our state,” He said. Referring to Russia’s “suicide drones” he added: “Shaheds don't have indecisiveness, as do some politicians. It is important to understand the cost of delays and postponed decisions.”
The attacks caused a fire at the Dnipro Hydroelectric Station, which supplies electricity to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest nuclear power installation. Power outages left 1,060 miners trapped in the Dnipropetrovsk region and an evacuation was underway, according to private energy company DTEK.