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Russia launched a massive missile and drone barrage on Wednesday targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, hitting a thermal power plant and prompting Ukrainians to take shelter in subway stations on Christmas morning.
The strikes on Ukrainian fuel and energy resources included 78 air-, ground- and sea-launched missiles, as well as 106 Shaheds and other types of drones, Ukraine’s air force said. It claimed to have intercepted 59 missiles and 54 drones, with 52 more drones jammed.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhumane?” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X. “They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine.”
In Russia, meanwhile, one woman died and three people were injured after falling debris from a downed drone started a fire in a shopping center in the city of Vladikavkaz. The head of the Russian republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Governor Sergey Menyaylo, said security footage showed the explosion outside the Alania Mall on Wednesday morning.
At least one person was killed in Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s Dnipro region, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said on Telegram, adding that heating was disrupted for 155 residential buildings. He also said that 500,000 people in the Kharkiv region were without heat.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said one Russian missile passed Moldovan and Romanian airspace.
Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that Russia is again “massively attacking energy infrastructure.” Ukraine’s air force said multiple missiles were fired at the Kharkiv, Dnipro and Poltava regions in the east of the country.
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Halushchenko said that the power distributor took the necessary measures to limit consumption. “As soon as the security situation allows, energy workers will determine the damage caused,” he said. State energy operator Ukrenergo applied preemptive power cuts across the country due to a “massive missile attack”, leading to electricity going out in several districts of the capital Kyiv.
Ukraine’s largest private power company, DTEK, said Russia struck one of its thermal power plants on Wednesday morning, making it the 13th attack on Ukraine’s power grid this year.
“Denying light and warmth to millions of peace-loving people when they celebrate Christmas is a depraved and evil act that must be answered,” Maxim Timchenko, CEO of DTEK wrote on his X account.
At least seven strikes targeted Kharkiv, causing fires in the city, regional head Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram. At least three people were injured, local authorities said.
“Kharkiv is under massive rocket fire. A series of explosions sounded in the city and ballistic missiles are still flying in the direction of the city. Stay in safe places,” said Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in its morning report on Wednesday that it had shot down 59 Ukrainian drones overnight, including over the Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk, Bryansk and Tambov regions, as well as over the Sea of Azov. It did not mention the incident in North Ossetia-Alania.
Four people were also killed as a result of Ukrainian bombing in the city of Lgov in the Kursk region, regional head Alexander Khinshtein said. Three people died after several blocks of flats and a beauty salon were hit, he said. Another person later died in hospital.
& copy 2024 The Canadian Press
