As we approach the fourth anniversary of the brutal all-out invasion launched by Vladimir Putin-led Russia against Ukraine, it is becoming clear that the Kremlin has not given up on its main goal - the destruction of the Ukrainian state. It is just that the methods have become more exposed. Having failed to subjugate Ukraine militarily, Russia is now systematically trying to destroy the very possibility of life in our cities.
Almost every night, swarms of drones and missiles take off towards Ukrainian cities. Their targets are not military bases. They are transformer stations, power plants, boiler houses, water pipelines - infrastructure on which the survival of millions of civilians depends. The goal is simple and cruel: to leave people without electricity, without heating and without water in the middle of winter.
And the latest missile and drone attack on the night of February 2-3, the largest of 2026, on the coldest night of the winter, when temperatures in some regions in the north and east dropped to -28 degrees Celsius, is a striking example. Russia used the several-day pause to stockpile missiles and strike drones and inflict the most damage to Ukraine's energy system in months.
These are not "collateral damage." This is a deliberate strategy. Russian politicians and propagandists openly say that Ukrainian cities should be "punished" for refusing to submit. The message is clear: if Ukrainians do not want to live under Russian rule, then, by that logic, they should not live at all.
In a modern European city, winter without electricity and heating is not an inconvenience - it is a threat to survival. These are basements full of children wrapped in jackets and blankets, while temperatures drop well below freezing. These are elderly people trapped on high floors because the elevators are not working, in apartments where it is colder than outside. These are children with special needs screaming in fear when an explosion blows up the building next to theirs, while their parents helplessly try to calm them down.
If the Russian plan succeeded, major Ukrainian cities would turn into frozen cemeteries.
Some still ask: why doesn't Ukraine simply compromise? Why doesn't it "compromise" with Russia? Because compromise implies that both sides want to live. Here, one side wants to survive, while the other is openly working to destroy it.
What is the compromise between life and death? Between freedom and subjugation? Freedom is not divided in half. When a people agrees to "half freedom," it means that their will is broken. Not in Ukraine.
There is also the argument that Ukrainians and Russians are "close peoples," that they have the same surnames, a similar language, family ties. That is precisely why the tragedy is even greater. Closeness does not mitigate the crime - it makes it morally more monstrous. If you are attacked by someone you called "brother," that does not make the wound any smaller.
This war is not fought with weapons alone. It is also fought by engineers planning how to destroy the power grid in the middle of winter. It is fought by propagandists who present aggression as "defense." It is fought by diplomats who try to sell the occupation of foreign territory as "the fight against imperialism." Even religious rhetoric is misused to justify the violence, calling this whole horror a "holy war."
Ukrainians remember that. And they will remember. This war has taught our people a harsh lesson: agreements, friendships, and fine words mean nothing if on the other side there is an imperial ideology that denies your right to exist.
This is not only important for Ukraine. The history of the Western Balkans over the past century has been quite bloody and drastic. The wounds from the 90s still echo here. That is why the people of Montenegro, a country with a particularly strong and proud libertarian and military tradition, perhaps understand better than many that peace without justice and without respect for sovereignty is not real peace, but only a pause before a new tragedy.
Today it is clear: Ukraine can no longer be crushed by intimidation. The only way for Russia to subdue it would be to physically destroy it - to kill or expel millions of people. That is exactly what it is trying to do now, using winter as a weapon.
That's why it's crucial that the world doesn't remain a mute spectator. It's especially important that countries that have relations with Russia say clearly: enough is enough. Stop killing civilians. Stop destroying cities. Stop trying to wipe out an entire nation.
Ukraine is not asking for what belongs to others. It is only asking for the right to live freely within its internationally recognized borders. This is not an extreme demand. This is the foundation of the international order and the basis of the dignity of every state - small or large.
If today we accept that a people can be frozen and bombed into submission, tomorrow no country will be able to be sure that the same will not be attempted against it.
The author is the ambassador of Ukraine in Montenegro
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