"Over the last week, Russia's attacks on Ukraine's critical infrastructure were more intense than in the previous three weeks," said Col. Kiviselg at this Friday's Ministry of Defense press briefing.

"While in the past three weeks, an average of 1,000-1,100 drones and 25-70 missiles were launched each week, last week those numbers were, in part, exceeded, with 1,400 drones and 60 different missiles launched," he explained.

So far in February, Russia has also already carried out two major air strikes involving over 400 weapons at a time, the colonel added.

"In other words, the Russian Federation has intensified its aerial attacks against Ukraine, during this cold season in particular, in order to achieve maximum effect by destroying its energy infrastructure," Col. Kiviselg said, specifying that the attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure have taken place in almost all of Ukraine's different oblasts.

"Russia's determination to cause a humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine is characterized by the fact that the Kherson thermal power plant has been attacked four times in February alone, even though Kherson is not currently an active combat zone," the EDF colonel explained.

Due to Russian air strikes, a state of emergency has been declared in the Kharkiv region, and power outages have also affected many areas of Kyiv over the past week. Adverse weather conditions have also exacerbated the situation on the ground, with major power outages in Kyiv and Odesa, the colonel said.

On a slightly more optimistic note, Col. Kiviselg pointed out that critical infrastructure in Kyiv has already been switched to alternative power sources, while Ukraine has also managed to shoot down an increasing number of Russian drones with its own interceptors.

Milder weather is expected in Ukraine in the near future, which should go some way to alleviating the situation, Col. Kiviselg noted.

He also highlighted Ukraine's successful long-range precision strikes over the past week, which targeted factories used to sustain Russia's war machine and other facilities that support and secure Russia's defense budget.

"During the week, the Ukrainians attacked a factory producing fuel components for winged missiles in Tver Oblast, a factory producing navigation equipment in Tambov Oblast, and fuel and oil processing plants in the Komi, Saratov, Volgograd, Belgorod, and Bryansk oblasts," he said.

Discussing the situation on the front line, Col. Kiviselg said the average number of combat engagements during the week remained at an average of 200 per day.

While Russia retained its main focus in Donetsk Oblast in the direction of Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad and Kostyantynivka, there were also attacks in the direction of Huljaipole and Lyman, as well as in the northern part of Kharkiv Oblast.

In the Donetsk region, Russian troops did make some advances in the direction of Sloviansk-Kostiantynivka and Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad.

Ukrainian forces achieved some success after launching counterattacks in the direction of Lyman-Dobropillia and Huljapole. Ukraine partially recaptured some previously occupied areas and expanded their presence in what had been a gray zone, Col. Kiviselg continued.

However, the situation remains critical the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad direction, where Ukrainian forces are still holding the outskirts of several urban areas.

Col. Kiviselg also pointed out that, on a political level, Russia has stuck to the rhetoric that Western security guarantees for Ukraine would be unacceptable and that it still wants to unify what it claims are historically Russian territories.

Col. Kiviselg said Russia's efforts to suspend the use of the Telegram and WhatsApp messaging apps and force its citizens to use the state-run Max app demonstrates the autocratic nature of a repressive regime that wants to monitor and restrict communication among its entire population.

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