Stephen Minas | Energy terrorism threatens countless lives

Unable to achieve its objectives on the battlefield, Russia has in recent months intensified its bombing of Ukraine's electricity grid and other civilian targets.

Ukrainians this holiday season are contending with frequent blackouts, disrupting supplies of electricity, heating and water.

These attacks are used to terrorise the civilian population while forcing the Ukrainian military to expend scarce resources on defending critical infrastructure.

According to Ukraine's government, Russian attacks have disabled almost half of the Ukrainian energy system.

The mayor of Lviv, western Ukraine's largest city, has said that "90 per cent of the city is without electricity".

The resulting therma-crisis, as the World Health Organisation has dubbed it, has life-or-death consequences - especially in the coldest months of the year.

Ukrainians have responded with defiance to what President Volodymyr Zelensky calls Russian "energy terrorism".

Russia's systematic bombing of Ukraine's power grid indicates three main things.

First, it underscores the criminal nature of Russia's war. International law criminalises both the initiation of a war of aggression and, regardless of the legality or illegality of a conflict, acts committed within it that amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.

From Putin's decision to launch the "special military operation" to the murders, rapes, torture and other atrocities committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, Russia's campaign has been riddled with criminality.

War crimes trials have been held in Ukraine and the International Criminal Court is also investigating.

Russia's bombings of Ukraine's energy assets amount to international crimes as intentional attacks on civilian objects.

Undermining Russian claims that the grid is a legitimate military target, Russian President Vladimir Putin recently admitted the bombings were acts of revenge for the Crimean bridge explosion.

Ukraine's government is right to insist that there be no impunity for Russian war criminals, however difficult bringing senior leaders to justice will be in practice.

Second, the targeted destruction, far from the frontlines, of infrastructure that tens of millions of civilians rely upon for daily necessities illustrates what is at stake in this war.

For all the complicated political, historical and religious factors at play, at its core the conflict is quite simple: an unprovoked aggressor seeking to crush an independent nation.

The outcome of this struggle will influence whether international relations are conducted according to the principles of the UN Charter or the law of the jungle.

For smaller and less powerful nations, the failure of Russia's campaign is vital to reasserting the need for all international disputes to be resolved "by peaceful means" and for all states to refrain from "use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state".

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Third, Russia's energy terrorism has deepened the need for immediate, practical solidarity with the affected Ukrainian people.

Governments and international organisations must continue to step up support. There is a massive need for materials to counter the impacts of Russian bombing, from generators to power hospitals to thermal clothes for those without heating in sub-zero temperatures.

The Ukraine Energy Support Fund, managed by the Vienna-based Energy Community Secretariat, is a key platform for cooperation.

Beyond emergency assistance lies the mammoth task of post-war reconstruction.

Remarkably, Ukraine has made progress on energy reforms even during the war and in December adopted ambitious 2030 targets.

But with the World Bank estimating reconstruction costs up to 600 billion euros, rebuilding will require ongoing international support - including legal work to apply Russian assets to this task. The question of war reparations needs to be on the table.

Those of us spending the holiday season in comfort and safety should consider contributing what we can to organisations providing much-needed humanitarian assistance.