Russia Launches Massive Christmas Day Attack On Ukraine’s Energy Grid
Russia, on Wednesday, launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine’s energy system, leaving about half a million persons without power on Christmas day.
Drones, cruise and ballistic missiles were launched at various cities in Ukraine, wounding at least six people in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and killing one person in the region of Dnipropetrovsk, the governors there said.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a post on X, described the attack as “inhumane”.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine managed to shoot down over 50 of the 70 missiles launched into the country.
“Every Russian massive strike takes time to prepare. It is never a spontaneous decision. It is a conscious choice not only of targets, but also of time and date.
“Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhumane? More than 70 missiles, including ballistic ones, and more than 100 strike drones. The targets are our energy sector. They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine.
“According to preliminary data, our defenders managed to shoot down more than 50 missiles and a significant part of the drones. Unfortunately, there are hits.
“As of now, there are outages in several regions. Energy workers are working to restore the power supply as soon as possible.
Russia has continued hitting the Ukrainian energy sector in recent months, damaging almost half of its generating capacity and causing prolonged blackouts.
In a Telegram post, Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said Wednesday’s strike damaged civilian non-residential infrastructure, without giving more detail.
Similarly, Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said the fatality there occurred in an attack on regional power facilities.
“Since the morning, the Russian army has been massively attacking the Dnipro region. It is trying to destroy the region’s power system,” he said.
Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko in a post on Facebook that Russia “is massively attacking the power sector” adding that the transmission system operator had restricted electricity supply to minimise the effect.
The country’s largest private energy company, DTEK, said its generating facilities were attacked during the strike, causing serious damage to power equipment.
“This year, it is the 13th massive attack on the Ukrainian energy sector and the 10th massive attack on the company’s energy facilities,” DTEK said on Telegram.
Russia Launches Massive Christmas Day Attack On Ukraine’s Energy Grid is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
