Putin Continues to Weaponize Ukraine’s Cold Snap

In hopes of breaking Ukraine’s will to resist, Russian President Vladimir Putin is continuing to take advantage of a bitter cold snap that has sent temperatures 13 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (25 degrees below zero Celsius) by purposefully attacking civilian infrastructure necessary for electricity and heating.

• Russia sent 408 drones and 39 missiles into Ukraine on February 6, killing one person and damaging energy infrastructure in 19 locations.
• On February 3, in one of the largest attacks this winter, Russia damaged energy facilities across the country and injured nine people, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Russian missiles and drones have struck energy infrastructure 217 times this year, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. Millions across Ukraine are without electricity, heat or both as of February 9. Over 1,400 buildings in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, are still without power and heating after the latest round of attacks.

Fruitless Phone Calls

On Thursday, January 29, United States President Donald Trump announced a weeklong ceasefire:

I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and town for a week during this extraordinary … record-setting cold over there. … It’s much colder in Ukraine to start off with, but it’s really cold. He agreed to do that. We appreciate that very much.

After attacks resumed on Tuesday, February 3, Zelenskyy accused Putin of going back on his word. “Overnight, in our view, Russia broke its promise. Either they think a week does not consist of seven full days, or they are simply betting on war and waited for the coldest days of this winter,” Zelenskyy said.

Yet President Trump claimed that Putin kept his word, saying the truce ended Sunday and began the week before.

President Trump may believe he can trust Russia’s president, but Putin has little regard for what America says. After agreeing to a seven-day ceasefire, Putin gave himself two days to stockpile missiles for another barrage, then resumed attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the most brutal winter in over a decade.

“Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people is more important to Russia than turning to diplomacy,” Zelenskyy posted on X.

If you understand Putin’s end goal, you understand the truth in that statement.

No Sign of Peace

While much of the world attempts to seduce Putin into peace talks, the war in Ukraine is only intensifying. Russia has sustained 1.2 million casualties in its war against Ukraine, and it has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, yet shows no sign of slowing down. Why?

Regarding Vladimir Putin, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote:

This man is not just an authoritarian leader! He is an evil, ruthless, vindictive agent with Soviet-style methods of psychological warfare, assassination and war! As one Russian journalist put it, Putin “is a supersize model of the kgb.”

Under Putin, Russia is mobilized and aggressive. He is a powerful prince. In 2005, he called the demise of the Soviet empire “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.” To put it mildly, most people don’t agree with his statement. After all, the oppressive Soviet regime persecuted all kinds of people, imprisoned them, and murdered countless millions just because of their ideas and thoughts. Most people were glad to see the Soviet Union break up in 1991. But Vladimir Putin thinks very differently. He sees the Soviet Union as Russia’s greatest glory in this modern age.

Putin rules an immense territory, but he wants to extend it even farther. If you think the world is too sophisticated or too nice for Russia to reconquer former Soviet states and try to create a new Russian empire—it has already happened!

Putin is only interested in diplomacy and “peace talks” if they further his imperialistic goals. He is as determined as ever to conquer Ukraine. Phone calls from the American president will not change his mind.

Bible prophecy shows that Putin’s power and aggressiveness will continue to grow.

To learn more about Russia’s future in the context of Bible prophecy, read our Trends article “Why the Trumpet Watches Russia’s Return to Superpower Status.”