Putin’s freezing campaign backfires spectacularly — only hardening Ukrainian resolve 4 years into war

Caitlin Doornbos / NEW YORK POST 

KYIV, Ukraine — Four years after Russia invaded Ukraine, many residents here are living without hot water, heating or power. 

But as they wait in long soup lines for a chance to warm up from winter temperatures, residents told The Post, they’d rather be freezing than surrender to cold-hearted Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

“If someone wants to make us give up, we will not give up because there will be no respect for us,” said Olha Sukhobok, 48.

Thousands of Kyiv residents have been without heat or electricity for two months after Putin ordered his troops to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure to break the Ukrainians’ will. But rather than pushing Ukrainians toward concessions, Russia’s campaign of cold and darkness is stiffening public resistance to what they see as an ineffective deal that would reward Moscow’s invasion without preventing re-invasion, according to interviews with more than a dozen civilians here.

“Russia is striking the energy system to make people suffer and panic, maybe force people to leave or make a bad deal. It’s their strategy. They are not going to break the Ukrainian will, but psychologically, it’s a big pressure,” said Sukhobok, as a World Central Kitchen volunteer handed her a steaming bowl of stew. Read more, see photos, and video here.