Russia has crippled half of Ukraine's energy infrastructure and this winter 'will be about survival,' top WHO official says

The upcoming winter will be about survival for Ukrainians, according to a top World Health Organization official.

Hans Kluge, the WHO's regional director for Europe, said at a Monday press conference that this winter will be life threatening for millions of people in Ukranian. The Ukrainian health system will be tested this winter due to the energy crisis, mental health emergency, and constraints on humanitarian access.

The country is facing a perma-crisis and a therma-crisis at the same time. Half of the energy infrastructure in Ukranian is damaged or destroyed. The health system is already being affected by this. This winter is going to be about survival.

Over 700 attacks on health infrastructure have been verified by the World Health Organization. Hospitals can no longer be operational because they lack electricity, fuel, and water, as a result of continued attacks on health and energy infrastructure.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces have been using suicide drones and missiles to targetUkraine's critical infrastructure. Attacks have left millions of Ukrainians without power and water, which has left Kyiv uneasy as the weather gets colder and winter approaches.

The WHO has warned US and Western officials. Russian strikes have made it difficult for Ukraine to care for its sick and elderly population, according to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The targeting of the civilian power grid is a war crime. Families will be without heat and power with the beginning of winter. Human suffering for the Ukrainian population is going to increase and basic human survival is going to be greatly impacted.

In the newly liberated southern city of Kherson, which had been under Russian occupation since the early days of the war, Ukrainian officials are even orchestrating voluntary evacuates for civilians because they fear that the city's battered power infrastructure will pull deadly freezes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy encourages people to limit their energy consumption in places where the system feels the most strain because of the first snowfall of the season last week.

The attacks of Russian terrorists have caused a lot of damage to our energy sphere and all of us should be very thrifty.