White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said on Nov. 30 that the U.S. had seen signs that the Russians are determined to continue hitting Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.
“Of course, the Russians are showing no signs that they are going to stop or reduce their attacks on civilian infrastructure (in Ukraine) that they have been conducting over the past few weeks,” Kirby said.
He said the U.S. would continue to help Ukraine restore its damaged infrastructure and strengthen its air defense.
Kirby added that the war’s intensity would decrease, and air operations would be difficult to conduct due to weather conditions.
“This is not to say that we think everything will just come to a standstill – we absolutely believe that military operations will continue into the winter months,” he said.
Moscow has been targeting Ukraine's critical infrastructure since early October, admitting that the country's energy facilities are its primary goal. According to the Geneva Conventions, attacking vital public infrastructure is a war crime.
Russia launched its latest large-scale missile attack on Ukraine on Nov. 23, killing civilians and damaging critical energy infrastructure, which caused blackouts across the country.
President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier said he expects new attacks that could be as bad as last week's bombardment. Ukrainian Intelligence also said it believes that Russian troops will continue to launch large-scale missile strikes on Ukraine in the future.