The EU is stepping up planning for a possible increase in the number of refugees fleeing Ukraine this winter amid rising fears that Russia’s destruction of power infrastructure could force more people to leave.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned EU leaders during a summit on Thursday night that Russia is trying to provoke a “wave of resettlement” to the EU by cutting off electricity and heat this winter.
“Russian terror against our energy facilities is aimed at creating as many problems as possible with electricity and heat for Ukraine this fall and winter so that as many Ukrainians as possible move to your countries,” he said.