Russia launched a massive air attack on Ukraine on Friday, launching 93 missiles and about 200 drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, calling it one of the heaviest bombings of the country’s energy sector since a large-scale Russian invasion nearly three years ago.
Zelensky said Ukrainian defenses shot down 81 missiles, including 11 cruise missiles that were intercepted by F-16 warplanes provided by Western allies earlier this year. He said on his channel on the Telegram application that Russia is “terrorizing millions of people” with such attacks, renewing his call for international unity against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“A strong reaction from the world is needed: a massive strike, a massive reaction,” Zelensky said. “This is the only way to stop terrorism.”
In Moscow, the Defense Ministry said the Russian military used long-range precision missiles and drones on “critically important fuel and energy facilities in Ukraine that ensure the functioning of the military-industrial complex.”
It added that the strike was in response to Wednesday’s Ukrainian attack using a US-supplied tactical missile system, or ATACMs, on a Russian air base.
The US Embassy in Kiev said Friday’s attack also targeted transportation networks and other key facilities.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said the attack “caused significant damage” to its thermal power plants.
Ballistic missiles used
Russia has repeatedly tried to cripple Ukraine’s electricity system in an attempt to break the will of civilians left in the dark without running water or heat and to disrupt Ukrainian defense manufacturing.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Haloshenko said energy workers were doing everything necessary to “minimize negative consequences on the energy system,” and promised to publish more details about the damage as soon as the security situation allows.
More than a million people were without power in Ukraine, after Russia launched a massive strike on the country’s power grid overnight. This is the second major attack on the Ukrainian power grid in the past two weeks.
The Ukrainian Air Force said that in addition to drones and cruise missiles, Russia used air-launched Kinzhal ballistic missiles against Ukraine’s western regions. A similar massive attack on November 28 involved about 200 missiles and drones and left more than a million households without power until emergency teams restored supplies.
Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia is stockpiling cruise and ballistic missiles for further attacks.
On November 21, Russia first used a medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile to strike an industrial plant in the city of Dnipro, eastern Ukraine. American officials warned against this on Wednesday Oreshnik They could be used again in the coming days, but there was no immediate sign of an attack on Friday.
Nearly half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure was destroyed during the war, and power outages have become common and widespread.
Kiev’s Western allies have provided Ukraine with air defense systems to help it protect vital infrastructure, but Russia has sought to overwhelm the air defenses with joint strikes involving large numbers of missiles and drones called “swarms.”
Close to the main city
Russia has taken the lead this year as its army has continued to steadily breach Ukrainian defenses in the east in a series of slow but steady attacks.
The Ukrainian military said in recent days that Russian forces had destroyed or taken control of several Ukrainian positions near Pokrovsk in the east. The city is an important logistical center for the Ukrainian army, and will represent one of Ukraine’s largest military losses in months.
Taking control of the city, which Russian media calls the “Gateway to Donetsk,” would allow Moscow to severely disrupt Ukrainian supply lines along the eastern front and bolster its campaign to seize the city of Chasiv Yar, which lies on high ground offering potential control. From a wider area.
Pressuring the Ukrainian military’s access to the road network in the vicinity would make it more difficult for Kiev forces to control pockets of territory on either side of Pokrovsk, which could allow Russia to reinforce and advance the front line.
The city also hosts a mine which is Ukraine’s only domestic supplier of coke to the once giant steel industry.
Mark Rutte calls the security situation “undoubtedly the worst in my lifetime” and says NATO members, including Canada, need to spend “much more” than 2 per cent of GDP, a long-standing NATO guideline. .
Uncertainty surrounds how the war will develop in the coming year. President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office next month, has pledged to end the war and has cast doubt on whether vital US military support for Kiev will continue.
On Friday, the Kremlin praised Trump’s criticism of the Ukrainian strikes with American missiles deep into Russian territory, and said that the position is completely in line with Moscow’s position.
Trump criticized Ukraine’s use of US-supplied missiles to launch attacks deep into Russian territory in an interview with Time magazine published on Thursday, comments that suggest he may change US policy toward Ukraine.
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