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Rutte: Ukraine faces its hardest winter yet—NATO must and will do more

NATO chief Mark Rutte has called on allies to increase arms supplies to Ukraine as the country faces what could be its hardest winter since the Russian invasion.

byMaria Tril

09/10/2024

1 minute read

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte Credit: AP Photo/Armin Durgut, File

Rutte: Ukraine faces its hardest winter yet—NATO must and will do more

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned that this winter could be the most challenging for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022, calling on allies to increase arms supplies.

“NATO has and will do more to help Ukraine,” Rutte, who took over as head of the Alliance this month, said during a press conference.

Russia continues to strike Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure. The Ministry of Energy previously emphasized that significant damage caused by Russia’s massive attacks, particularly one of the largest attacks on the energy sector on 26 August, continues to complicate the operation of the power system.

According to the ministry, since October 2022, Russia has launched over a thousand strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure facilities. This year alone, 9 GW of generating capacity has been lost due to these attacks.

The UN mission reported that Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have caused significant damage and could lead to even more devastating consequences as winter approaches.

The energy ministry reports that Russian forces persist in daily shelling of energy infrastructure objects, further exacerbating the situation.

Longtime Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte officially took office as NATO Secretary General on 1 October. During his visit to Kyiv on 3 October, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed that Ukraine would be his key priority in office during his first foreign visit to Kyiv.

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