A senior Russian politician says that Moscow should cut off electricity to Ukraine ahead of this winter, forcing the Ukranian people to freeze, starve, and be forced into exile.
Andrey Gurulyov, a deputy official in the 8th State Duma and close ally of President Vladimir Putin, made the remarks speaking on Russian state TV.
“The absence of electricity means the absence of water, the absence of refrigerators, the absence of sewers,” he stated. “One week after all electricity is cut off, the city of Kyiv will be swimming in sh*t, pardon my expression.”
Ukraine’s national energy company has already warned its citizens to “change everything” in anticipation of expected electricity cuts in response to recent attacks from Russia that have targeted Ukraine’s energy network.
The country is currently facing rolling blackouts and outages of up to four hours at a time.
Gurulyov told viewers that the Kremlin should not strike railways or bridges, but can focus its attacks on digital networks that control Ukrainian critical infrastructure.
“We need to knock out the control centers, we’re in the digital age. Data centers with servers control the railways and Ukraine’s energy supply systems, as well as banking systems, and a mint that prints the money,” he said.
Russian lawmakers Andrey Gurulyov and Konstantin Dolgov advocate freezing, starving the Ukrainian civilian population, forcing them into exile by making their survival otherwise impossible. State TV host Olga Skabeeva disingenuously claims that Russia simply has no other choice. pic.twitter.com/joz8ui9P8l
— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) October 20, 2022
“These strikes that are being carried out today, I believe they are extremely effective,” he stated. “Our strategic operation of destroying critical infrastructure is being carried out in a classic manner: carrying out strikes, appraising the situation, analysis of the affected targets, additional intelligence, and more strikes, precisely and consistently disabling select objects necessary for the collapse of the country.”
Another panelist asked how it benefits Russia if the residential buildings in Kyiv are without electricity and running water.
Gurulyov, previously a commander in the Russian military, responded by telling the panel if there there is no water, or critical services, Ukrainian citizens will be forced out of the country as refugees.
“Because it’s impossible to survive. There is no heating, no water, no sewer, no lights,” he explained. “You can’t cook food, no place to store the food, there is no way to transport the food, the monetary system does not work, and so on and so forth.”
Grinding Ukraine’s manufacturing base to a screeching halt is also part of Russia’s strategy in destroying critical infrastructure, according to Gurulyov.
“The next point, the industry is at a standstill. Today, unfortunately, many factories in Kyiv and Western parts of Ukraine are working on restoring the equipment, and the weapons that are damaged, and even on producing new weapons,” he told viewers. “This has to be completely ruled out. How does one live in a country where nothing works?”
