Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday that Russia launched a combination of cruise and ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Christmas attack was not a “spontaneous decision”.
“This is a deliberate choice – not only of the target, but also of the time and date,” Zelensky wrote online. “Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhumane than this?”.
What did the officials say about the strike?
Zelensky said more than 70 missiles, some of which were ballistic, were fired, as well as more than a hundred attack drones.
“The enemy is again launching a massive attack on the energy sector,” Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on the social media platform Telegram in an earlier alert.
“The transmission system operator is taking the necessary measures to limit consumption to minimize negative consequences for the energy system,” he said.
The Ukrainian military said it had declared an airstrike alert across the country, in response to incoming missiles targeting several areas.
Zelensky later said that according to preliminary reports, the defensive forces managed to intercept more than 50 missiles and “a large number” of drones.
“Unfortunately, there has been some damage. As of now, there is power outage in many areas. Power engineers are working to restore power supply as much as possible,” he said.
The governor of the Kherson region said one person had died and three others were injured in the past 24 hours.
Attacks target Kharkiv, Dnipro
A Russian missile attack targeted Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine on Wednesday morning, wounding at least six people, regional governor Oleh Sinihubov said.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia used ballistic missiles.
Sinihubov said in a statement on Telegram that the attack “caused damage to civilian non-residential infrastructure”.
Meanwhile, in Dnipro in central Ukraine, Governor Serhiy Lysak also reported mass attacks, accusing Moscow of trying to “destroy the region’s electricity system.”
“Stay in a safe place until the air warning is lifted. Take care!” Lisak told residents braving the cold temperatures of winter.
A 43-year-old man was killed and 17 others were injured in search and rescue operations following the Christmas Eve attacks, the governor said.
Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK said on Wednesday that its power plants had been attacked by Russia.
“This year, this is the 13th major attack on the Ukrainian energy sector and the 10th major attack on the company’s energy facilities,” the company said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine faces another winter amid war
Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have intensified since this spring.
About half of Ukraine’s generation capacity has been affected, causing regular blackouts across the country.
One of the recent major missile attacks occurred on November 17, when Russia launched about 120 missiles and 90 drones.
That attack killed seven people and seriously damaged power systems, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Russia of using cluster munitions.
rmt,msh/rm (AFP, Reuters)
