Putin propagandist calls on Russian army to reduce size of Ukraine

Russian pundit says Ukraine ‘ought to be smaller’

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The Russian army has been urged to intensify attacks on Ukraine to make it smaller. Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled propaganda media organisation RT, remarked that Ukraine is bigger than most European countries. To achieve its military goal, Vladimir Putin’s army should destroy as much land as possible, she suggested.

Margarita Simonyan told Russian state-owned channel Russia1: “i’d like to recall that Ukraine isn’t a small country either. 

“Yeah, Russia is ‘too big’ a country, but Ukraine isn’t small at all. 

“By European standards, it’s enormous! And by the standards of Lichtenstein, for example, it’s indecently enormous!

“It ought to be made a little smaller, which we are doing, thank God.”

Eight months into the war, Russian forces have retreated from significant portions of Ukraine’s land, including the northeastern Kharkiv region and provinces Putin annexed in late September.

Despite “extremely big” Russia losses, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned “the occupiers are still trying to advance in the Donetsk region, gain a foothold in the Luhansk region, move in the Kharkiv region, they are planning something in the south.”

He added: “But we are holding out and – most importantly – do not allow the enemy to fulfil their intentions.”

The Russian army has been conducting sporadic waves of missile strikes across Ukraine, deliberately targeting critical energy facility in a bid to plunge the country into darkness. 

In video remarks to an EU summit, the Ukrainian President said Vladimir Putin is trying to provoke a new wave of migration of Ukrainians to European Union countries with blackouts and reduced access to water. Satellite images of Ukraine on November 24 showed a blacked-out nation. 

Ukraine’s state energy operator, Ukrenergo, has said it is still struggling to restore full power almost a week after Russian missile strikes damaged energy facilities across the country.

Early last week, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said the “vast majority of electricity” for consumers in Ukraine was disrupted after the shelling.

In a Facebook update, the Ministry said: “There are some emergency outages happening. The lack of electricity can affect the availability of heat and water supply. The power workers are already working and doing their best to restore power as soon as possible. But [given] the scale of the impact, it will take time.”

By early November, Russian attacks had “seriously damaged” about 40% of Ukraine’s entire energy infrastructure in early November.

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Ukraine’s spare parts for its battered electricity grid are running low due to Russian bombing, Ukrenergo added, with Ukraine pleading the EU for surplus kit to help the country get through the winter.

The latest series of Russian missile attacks last Friday resulted in power cuts lasting 48 hours or more across the country. Ukrenergo said the power deficit was running at 30% as of 11 am local time. 

In response, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced plans to provide $53 million to help restore the country’s energy infrastructure, saying the latest equipment will be delivered on an emergency basis to help Ukrainian residents persevere throughout the winter season. 

Ukrainian refugees and their hosts presented a petition to Downing Street signed by over 4,500 people urging the government to provide housing assistance to those who are struggling or unable to find independent housing after more than 100,000 people have become guests of British families under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

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