Andrew Marr: Putin may 'sit winter out' to fracture Ukraine's willpower and Western support

24 November 2022, 18:27

Putin may "sit winter out" to fracture both Ukraine's willpower and support from the West as tough conditions hit, Andrew Marr has said.

Opening LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr on Thursday, the presenter unpacked the tyrant's latest strategy in the war against Ukraine.

"A bit parky out there isn't it?" Andrew asked.

"Well it's a great deal colder in Ukraine, with temperatures in Kyiv down to zero by the weekend and snow gusting in across parts of the country.

"And that matters because after the failure of his army on the battlefield Russia's President Putin has hit on a new strategy - raining down missiles on power stations to freeze Ukraine into submission over a long cold winter. 

"This morning about 70% of its capital woke up without power - the water supply was badly hit as well - and after frantic work all day, about a quarter of Kyiv’s houses still have no light, no heating.

"So might this horrible strategy actually work?"

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Andrew continued: "With Russians and Ukrainians now facing each other on opposite banks of the icy Dnieper river, Putin may want to sit the winter out, waiting for Ukraine's willpower to give out, and support in the West begin to fracture as we struggle to pay our heating bills - and perhaps face blackouts as well.

"There are two things president Zelenskyy said which are significant.

"The first was that famous retrort to the Kremlin: 'Read my lips: without gas or without you? Without you. Without light or without you? Without you. Without water or without you? Without you.'

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"But Putin is also watching the rest of us across the West and Zelenskyy has a second message for all of us tonight: 'Do not forget about Ukraine. Do not get tired of Ukraine. Do not let our courage go out of fashion.'

"That comes from a new book of his speeches, published today – more about it later in the show."