Kurti presents new view on attack on Kosovo

(Patria) - Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti stated that the terrorist attack on the Ibar-Lepenac canal in Zubin Potok is linked to the massive Russian attacks on Ukraine.

"Both in the context of time and in the context of the nature of the act itself, it appears that this attack is connected to the massive air attacks of the Russian Federation on Ukraine. Attacks that were aimed precisely against energy infrastructure in Ukraine," Kurti said on Sunday.

Kurti added that the day before the attack in Zubin Potok, on November 28, Russian military forces attacked critical energy infrastructure in Ukraine with 188 missiles and drones, leaving about a million households without electricity ahead of the winter season.

"The goal is to ultimately put the population in minimal vital living conditions and thus damage the health, life and safety of citizens," Kurti said.

He added that at the same time, an attack on the municipal building in Zvečan and attacks in Ukraine occurred.

"In Zvečan, two days before that, we had an attack on a police station, and now also on critical infrastructure in the north of Kosovo, as well as in Ukraine," Kurti said.

He added that the fact is even more evident that during the checks conducted by the Kosovo police at various locations "after the terrorist attack, in addition to numerous weapons and military equipment, dozens of emblems of Russian military units were also found."

"These emblems mostly belong to specialized units for conducting special military operations, as is the case with the emblems of paratroopers of the Armed Forces of Russia, and in addition to military emblems, during yesterday's checks, flags of the Russian imperial wing were found, a flag used by imperial Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries – that is, when Russian imperialism made a great historical leap," Kurti added.

He claims that Serbia is copying Russian methods to threaten Kosovo and the region in general.

"It is clear that the free and active stay of the main criminal Milan Radoičić in Serbia is the truth of Serbia, which is trying to put all its neighbors who are not members of the European Union under conditions of tension and risk of destabilization," said the Kosovo Prime Minister.

A strong explosion with major consequences on the Ibar-Lepenac watercourse occurred on Friday evening in the village of Varage in Zubin Potok, in the north of Kosovo.

The Kosovo police confirmed that the explosion damaged the Ibar-Lepenac watercourse.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani characterized the incident via social networks as a terrorist act in which the country's vital infrastructure was attacked.

Kosovo media reported that it is suspected that the explosion was intended to damage Kosovo's critical infrastructure in order to disrupt the flow of water used for cooling in the electricity production process at the Kosovo A and Kosovo B power plants.

The regional water supply company "Mitrovica" announced that the supply of drinking water was interrupted due to damage to a part of the canal.

In most areas in the north of Kosovo, water supply has returned to normal, Kosovo's Minister of Economy Artane Rizvanoli said on Sunday.

The High Representative of the European Union (EU) Josep Borrell called the explosion in the Ibar-Lepenac canal a terrorist attack, while many EU countries, as well as Turkey, also condemned the act.

In connection with this case, so far, as announced by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Kosovo Xhelal Sveçla, nine people have been arrested and taken to police stations. Also, during police raids after this case in the north, a significant number of weapons and military equipment were found.