Kyiv, Ukraine – Russia on Wednesday launched a massive ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across the country Ukrainetargeting energy production and forcing authorities to shut down the power grid in some areas despite freezing winter weather, officials said.
Russia's Defense Ministry said it launched a strike on “very important facilities of gas and energy infrastructure that ensure the functioning of Ukraine's military industrial complex.” He did not provide the target locations or other details.
The barrage came a day after Russia's Defense Ministry vowed to respond to what it said was an attack on Russian soil using several missiles supplied from the West. Kyiv has not confirmed that attack, although it said on Tuesday it hit an oil refinery and fuel storage facility, a chemical plant producing weapons and two anti-aircraft missile systems, in a missile and drone attack. which reached nearly 700 miles into Russia.
Protracted attacks have been part of the nearly three-year war, where the forces have been engaged in a sham war on the front line stretching some 600 miles from north-east to south. Ukraine. Russia has been moving forward on the battlefield over the past year, although progress has been slow and costly.
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Russia attacked Ukraine with 43 missiles and 74 drones overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said. 30 missiles and 47 drones were shot down, and 27 drones failed to reach their target, he said.
Russian missiles were looking for targets from the Lviv region in western Ukraine near Poland to Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine which borders Russia. State energy company Ukrenergo reported emergency power outages in six regions. It often shuts down production during attacks as a precaution.
“The enemy still scares Ukrainians,” Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko wrote on Facebook.
Electricity supply began again to homes in some areas by mid-day, but Ukrenergo urged customers to avoid power-hungry electrical appliances.
Russia has tried again to choke Ukraine's power grid, denying the country heat, electricity and running water in an attempt to break Ukraine's spirit. The attacks have also sought to disrupt Ukraine's defense manufacturing industry.
Last September, the UN refugee agency reported that Ukraine had lost more than 60% of its energy generation capacity.
Ukrainian authorities are trying to rebuild their power generation after the attack, although the blockades have eroded production. Western partners have been helping to rebuild Ukraine.
“It is the middle of winter, and Russia's goal remains unchanged: our energy infrastructure,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram.
He urged Western partners to speed up the delivery of air defense weapons promised to Ukraine, stressing that “promises have been made but have not yet been fully fulfilled.”
Poland promises to proceed with the question of EU membership in Ukraine
Separately, the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, promised on Wednesday that he would use his country's presidency of the European Union to proceed with the question of Ukraine's membership.
“We will break our deadlock on this issue,” Tusk told reporters in Warsaw, standing alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “We will continue the accession process.”
Zelenskyy was in Poland on Wednesday after the two countries reached an agreement to extradite Polish victims of World War II massacres by Ukrainian nationalists, a long-standing source of tension between them. .
