"Leave if you can": what happened in Ukraine as the world focuses on Greenland
While the world watched the Greenland crisis caused by US President Donald Trump, Russia is brutally exploiting the distracted public attention.
Continued heavy attacks on Ukraine's energy supply have again led to power outages across the country this week, with Kiev particularly affected.
On Tuesday, Russia launched approximately 470 drones and 47 cruise missiles into Ukraine, many of which targeted the capital. One million customers in Kiev are currently without electricity, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message Tuesday evening, A2CNN reports.
Russian attacks have left half the city without electricity, heating and water, pushing Kiev to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Tuesday. In January, 600,000 residents had already fled the city, Klitschko added. A figure apparently derived from mobile phone data collection.
The mayor urged remaining residents to leave as well, “if they are able.” According to Klitschko, 5,600 apartment blocks are now without heat. Many of the affected buildings had only just been reconnected to the grid after previous attacks.
Authorities are forced to drain the city's central heating and water systems to prevent pipes from freezing and bursting in temperatures as low as minus 18 degrees Celsius, Klitschko said. He also warned of the risk of an epidemic in the city, given the bursting of sewer pipes. If the humanitarian situation in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities continues to deteriorate, Europe may have to prepare for a new wave of refugees.
Indeed, Moscow has exploited the harsh winter to cause what is likely to be the worst humanitarian crisis since the start of the full-scale invasion four years ago. “Putin is using the cold as a weapon against civilians, and the world is watching,” Ukrainian security expert Maria Avdeeva commented in X.
Russia has conducted a long-range weapons campaign throughout the war, “deliberately targeting Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure, disproportionately affecting civilians, and has intensified these attacks in recent months,” the Institute for the Study of War wrote in its latest situation report.
The Russian military is repeatedly launching large-scale barrages into Ukraine simultaneously to inflict maximum damage. “This underscores the critical importance of Western assistance in strengthening Ukraine’s air defense capabilities,” ISW states, “particularly the US-made Patriot air defense systems, which are capable of effectively countering the threat posed by Russia’s ballistic missiles.”
According to President Zelenskyy, Ukraine received a new shipment of Patriot missiles on January 18, which were also used to counter recent Russian attacks. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Ukraine to convince its partners to provide similar deliveries. “At a time when so many people are dying, we still have to fight to get all these missiles for various defense systems,” Zelenskyy said. “We are begging them, trying to squeeze them all by force.”
This plea is mainly addressed to Europe, after US support was withdrawn. But the continent has recently been entirely preoccupied with defending itself from attacks by US President Donald Trump, who has set his sights on occupying the Danish island of Greenland, territory belonging to a NATO partner.
Following the agreement reached at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday evening, there was initially a great sense of relief in Europe – but the damage has been done. Not only has the transatlantic relationship suffered as a result of the dispute, but Ukraine also feels abandoned by its allies.
“The real tragedy of the Greenland circus is that it is taking energy and focus away from Ukraine,” said Wolfgang Ischinger, a former chairman of the Munich Security Conference, before the deal with US President Trump. “This is a strategic distraction that has taken on an extremely damaging dimension.”
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who is said to have played a key role in calming the Greenland debate, also stressed in Davos that the situation in Ukraine should be the alliance’s top priority; Greenland could be discussed later. In fact, Trump’s theatrics are helping Russia in two ways: by unsettling NATO, which propagandists in Moscow are happily welcoming. And by weakening the West’s resolve to support Ukraine.
Russia is using this situation to its advantage – and playing a particularly dangerous game. In mid-January, the Ukrainian intelligence service had already warned of a scenario that the Russian military is now implementing: attacks on substations at nuclear reactors to disrupt the energy supply necessary for the safe operation of the power plants.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that military operations had damaged substations essential to nuclear safety at Chernobyl. The latest attacks have cut off power to the entire power plant – for the second time since January 12.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi had previously stated that since that day, there had been military activity or airstrike sirens at all five Ukrainian nuclear power plant sites. This is an indication that Russia is systematically targeting them – and a serious violation of international humanitarian law. Against this backdrop, Trump’s invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin to his new “International Peace Council” must feel like a cruel mockery to Ukraine.
There is an intrinsic connection between the situation in Ukraine and the Greenland issue: Trump's central argument for wanting to take possession of the island is its strategic importance for Arctic security in defense against a potential Russian (and Chinese) threat.
Experts, however, point out that the best way to deter Russia in the region would be for Moscow to suffer a painful defeat in Ukraine, thus discouraging Putin from further military adventures. A study by the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø has also found that provocations in the Arctic have decreased significantly since the start of the war in Ukraine.
A Russian defeat does not seem likely at the moment, nor does a Ukrainian defeat. The situation on the front is largely deadlocked; the Russian army is advancing, but very slowly.
At Davos, Trump again called for an end to the war — and expressed his frustration at the lack of progress on the issue. “What does the United States get for all this work, for all this money, except death, destruction and huge sums of money for people who don’t know what we’re doing?” the US president said in his speech on Wednesday. Zelensky arrived in Davos on Thursday, where he met with US President Donald Trump. In his speech to the audience, Zelenskyy criticized Europe for its poor performance on Ukraine and Iran. “Everyone is waiting to see what the United States is going to do, while the rest of the world is not offering anything. Europe is not offering anything and is not ready to address the problem by supporting the Iranian people and the democracy that they need,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, speaking at the Davos Forum. On Wednesday, the US president expressed disappointment with both Putin and Zelensky. “I think they’re at a point now where they can come together and make a deal,” Trump said. “And if they don’t, they’re fools — that goes for both of them.”
