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Russia launched a massive barrage of missiles and drones targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Wednesday, hitting a thermal power plant and forcing Ukrainians to take shelter in metro stations on Christmas morning.
The attacks on Ukrainian fuel and energy sources included 78 air-, land- and sea-launched missiles, as well as 106 Shahed and other types of unmanned aerial vehicles, the Ukrainian Air Force said. They claimed to have intercepted 59 missiles and 54 drones, in addition to jamming another 52 drones.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin deliberately chose Christmas for the attack. What could be more inhumane?” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X. “They continue to fight for blackouts in Ukraine.”
In Russia, on the other hand, one woman was killed and three people were injured after debris from a downed drone caused 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 shopping center on Wednesday morning.
At least one person was killed in the Russian attack on the Dnieper region of Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba announced on Telegram, adding that heating was cut off in 155 residential buildings. He also said that 500,000 people in the Kharkiv region are without heating.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that a Russian missile passed through Moldovan and Romanian airspace.
Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that Russia is again “massively attacking the energy infrastructure”. The Air Force of Ukraine said that several missiles were fired at the regions of Kharkiv, Dnieper and Poltava in the east of the country.
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Halushchenko said that the electricity distributor has taken the necessary measures to limit consumption. As soon as the security situation allows, the energy experts will determine the damage, he said. State energy operator Ukrenergo implemented preventive power cuts across the country due to a “massive rocket attack”, leading to power outages in several districts of the capital, Kyiv.
Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, said Russia attacked one of its thermal power plants on Wednesday morning, marking the 13th attack on Ukraine’s power grid this year.
“Depriving millions of peace-loving people of light and warmth while celebrating Christmas is a depraved and evil act that must be answered,” DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko wrote on his X account.
At least seven attacks targeted Kharkiv, causing fires across the city, regional leader Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram. At least three people were injured, local authorities said.
“Kharkiv is under heavy rocket fire. A series of explosions rang out in the city, and ballistic missiles are still flying in the direction of the city. Stay in safe places,” said Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov.
Russia’s 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. He did not mention the incident in North Ossetia-Alania.
Four people were also killed in the Ukrainian shelling of the city of Lgov in the Kursk region, regional leader Alexander Khinshtein said. Three people died after several blocks of flats and a beauty salon were hit, he said. Another person died later in the hospital.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
