He said the Russian attacks “can only be described as cruel. They must stop. Attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure is a clear violation of the rules of war.”
According to Ukrainian authorities, the latest long-range attacks caused emergency power and heating outages in several regions.
Only in Kyiv, the city mayor reported that On Tuesday morning, 5,635 multi-story residential buildings were left without heat, of which almost 80 percent had just had their heat restored. after similar attacks earlier this month.
Since October last year, the Russian military has renewed large-scale systematic attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, with attacks recorded in at least 20 regions of the country.
Türk called on Russian authorities to immediately stop the attacks, warning that continued attacks on essential civilian infrastructure risk exacerbating human suffering.
Humanitarian consequences
“This means that hundreds of thousands of families are now without heat and several areas, including a significant part of kyiv, are also without water,” Türk said, warning that the impact falls hardest on children, the elderly and people with disabilities.
The humanitarian cost was underlined by Matthias Schmale, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, who said that in the past 48 hours tens of thousands of civilians woke up once again to freezing homes and severe disruptions to basic services.
“Parents are unable to prepare hot meals for their children and many older people have once again been isolated in cold homes.” he said. “The horrific attacks on energy that have such a huge negative impact on the lives of civilians violate international humanitarian law and must end immediately.”
Nuclear security risks
The attacks have also raised new concerns about nuclear security. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said several electrical substations vital to nuclear safety were affected.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant temporarily lost all external power, while power lines at other nuclear facilities were also affected. “The IAEA is actively monitoring the evolution of the situation to assess the impact on nuclear safety,“Said general director Rafael Grossi.
Chernobyl was the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident in April 1986, when a reactor explosion released massive amounts of radioactive material into Ukraine, Europe and beyond.
Although the plant has long since stopped generating power, it requires a stable electricity supply to maintain cooling systems, radiation monitoring and safe management of nuclear waste, making uninterrupted power critical to preventing new safety risks.