After massive strikes on Ukraine, after the appearance of Russian drones and aircraft in NATO countries' airspace, Russia has moved to attempts at systematic destruction of Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Strikes on various Ukrainian cities are carried out almost daily; the most recent one was in the capital, targeting the city's thermal power plants. In addition, strikes were carried out on Ukrainian gas fields, which will also cause serious problems in winter."This is not the first time Putin has attempted to "freeze" Ukrainians—everyone remembers well the anxious and dark winter of the first year of the great war. But now these strikes have become much more systematic, and they are happening against the backdrop of proposals to end the war and begin peace negotiations."And Putin, as we can see, is openly ignoring these proposals. Why?Because, first, he believes the West has no tools to seriously pressure him; and second, he perceives any negotiations as a path to the enemy's capitulation. Therefore, Putin is convinced: if he has to agree to negotiations, they must be negotiations about Ukraine's capitulation and the creation of conditions for its further disappearance from the world's political map. Thus, he seeks to make Ukraine a territory unsuitable for normal life. Strikes on energy infrastructure, in the Russian president's view, should create a persistent feeling among Ukrainians that they have no choice but to surrender to Russia. And although history has never seen cases where bombing cities led to a total desire to capitulate, Putin doesn't take this into account—no matter what history and the experience of this war indicate to the contrary.But the motivation for attacks on energy infrastructure may be much broader than just demoralizing society. It's also a desire to destroy the Ukrainian economy—so that even if the war ends, Ukraine would have no serious prospects for recovery, becoming a clear example of what happens to countries that don't submit to Moscow's will. This could also be a demographic weapon: creating unbearable living conditions so that another portion of the population leaves. After all, the fewer Ukrainians remain in Ukraine, the greater Russia's chances of maintaining its role as a geopolitical magnet of the future, even with further decline of the Russian population. Let me remind you: demographic wars are nothing new to Moscow's imperial practice; there are examples both in imperial times and in the Soviet era. The Holodomor alone is worth mentioning! And now Putin seeks to organize an "energomor" (energy-induced famine - ed.).Talks and persuasion obviously won't help with this. Recent months—months of constant talks between Trump and Putin—have convincingly proven this, probably even to the American president himself, although many warned from the very beginning that all these negotiations were doomed to fail.But the destruction of energy infrastructure can be countered in another way—by weakening the military and energy potential of the Russian Federation itself. Ukrainian strikes on Russian military facilities and oil refineries can force the Russian president, if not to think about peace, then at least to be more cautious with his strikes. Russia has already lost a significant portion of its refining capacity, which creates problems for its economy and makes the war more expensive. And this is only thanks to drone attacks on Russian facilities. If Ukraine receives a sufficient number of long-range missiles, Russia could find itself without a large part of its economic potential.And this is the right approach. You don't negotiate peace with a dragon. Even if it's impossible to cut off its head, you can at least knock out its stinking teeth.SourceAbout the author. Vitaly Portnikov, journalist, laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine.The editorial board does not always share the opinions expressed by blog authors.