Russia launched a massive air strike against Ukraine on Friday, firing 93 missiles and nearly 200 drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, describing it as one of the deadliest bombings has weighed heavily on the country's energy sector since Russia joined in fully nearly three years ago.
Ukraine's defense forces shot down 81 missiles, including 11 cruise missiles intercepted by F-16 warplanes supplied by Western allies earlier this year, Zelenskyy said. Russia is “scaring millions of people” with such attacks, he said on his Telegram channel, renewing his call for international unity against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“A strong response from the world is needed: a big strike – a big response. This is the only way to stop terror,” Zelenskyy said.
In Moscow, the Ministry of Defense said that the Russian military used long-range precision missiles and drones on “critically important fuel and energy resources in Ukraine that ensure the operation of the military industrial complex.”
The strike was in retaliation for Ukraine's attack on Wednesday using US-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMs, on a Russian airbase, he said.
The US Embassy in Kyiv said Friday's attack also targeted transportation networks and other key facilities.
Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, said the attack had “severely damaged” its thermal power plants.
Ballistic missiles used
Russia has repeatedly tried to shut down Ukraine's electricity system to disrupt the will of civilians left in the dark without running water or heating and to disrupt Ukrainian defense manufacturing .
Ukraine's Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said energy workers were doing everything necessary to “minimize the negative impact on the energy system,” promising to release more minor damage information once the security setting is allowed.
More than a million people in Ukraine have been left without power, after Russia launched a massive strike on the country's power grid overnight. This is the second major attack on Ukraine's power grid in the past two weeks.
Ukraine's air force said that in addition to drones and cruise missiles, Russia used Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles against the western regions of Ukraine. A similar large-scale attack on November 28 brought in about 200 missiles and drones and left more than a million homes without power until emergency crews restored power.
Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia is stockpiling cruise and ballistic missiles for more attacks.
On November 21, Russia used for the first time an intermediate hypersonic ballistic missile to hit an industrial complex in the city of Dnipro, in eastern Ukraine. US officials issued a warning on Wednesday the Oreshnik it may be used again in the coming days, but there was no immediate sign that one had been launched in Friday's attack.
About half of Ukraine's energy infrastructure was destroyed during the war, and blackouts are common and widespread.
Kyiv's Western allies have provided air defense systems to Ukraine to help it protect critical infrastructure, but Russia has tried to overwhelm air defenses with joint strikes involving large numbers of missiles and drones called “swarms.”
Close to main town
Russia has maintained the initiative this year as its military has penetrated Ukrainian defenses in the east in a series of slow but steady offensives.
The Ukrainian military said in recent days that Russian troops destroyed or captured several Ukrainian positions near Pokrovsk in the east. The city is an important logistics center for the Ukrainian military, and would represent one of the biggest military losses in Ukraine in months.
Control of the city, which Russian media call “the gateway to Donetsk,” would allow Moscow to seriously disrupt Ukrainian supply lines on the eastern front and boost its campaign to capture the city of Chasiv Yar , which sits on higher ground offering potential control. of a wider area.
By squeezing the Ukrainian military's access to the nearby road network it would be more difficult for Kyiv's troops to hold pockets of territory on either side of Pokrovsk, which would allow Russia to consolidate and advance the front line .
The city also hosts a mine that is Ukraine's only domestic supplier of coking coal for its once large steel industry.
Calling the security situation 'undoubtedly the worst in my life,' Mark Rutte says that NATO members, including Canada, will have to spend 'a lot more' than the two percent of GDP, NATO guidelines for -time.
There is uncertainty about how the war might unfold next 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 aid to Kyiv will continue.
The Kremlin on Friday praised Trump's criticism of Ukrainian strikes with US missiles deep into Russian territory and said the situation was fully in line with Moscow's own.
Trump criticized Ukraine's use of US-supplied missiles for deep strikes on Russian territory in a Time magazine interview published Thursday, comments that suggest he may change American policy toward Ukraine.
Source link
