Russia unleashed one of the largest airborne assaults of the conflict against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure Friday, launching almost 300 missiles and drones against targets from Lviv in the west to Odessa on the Black Sea and Kharkiv in the east where four people were injured.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on X that early information indicated Russia had launched nearly 200 drones and that at least one of the 93 ballistic and cruise missiles fired was North Korean-made but that air defenses and F-16 fighters had downed all but 12 of the missiles. Advertisement
“This is Putin’s ‘peace plan’ — to destroy everything. This is how he wants ‘negotiations’, by terrorizing millions of people. He is neither limited in long-range capabilities nor in acquiring the necessary components to produce missiles,” wrote Zelensky. Advertisement
“Oil gives Putin enough money to believe in his impunity. A strong reaction is needed from the world: a massive attack must be met with a massive reaction. This is the only way terror can be stopped.
Ukraine’s Air Force said hypersonic air-launched Kinzhal missiles were also used while the International Atomic Energy Agency said on its account on X the attacks had forced five of Ukraine’s nine working nuclear reactor units to dial back power output.
Warning people that the danger was not over and to remain inside shelters, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said in a social media post that Ukraine’s energy sector was “under massive attack” once again.
State-run power company Ukrenergo said its facilities and networks had been damaged across the country and warned of an increase in emergency power outages while repairs were carried out.
Blasts were reported all around the country including Odessa in the southwest, Vinnytsia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Cherkasy, and Kyiv province where the regional administration took to social media to warn that air raid warnings remained in force.
European Union Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernovas said she had been forced to welcome newly appointed EU defense commissioner Andrius Kubiliusr to Kyiv “in a shelter” in a post on X accompanied by photos of the pair huddled underground. Advertisement
Ivano-Frankivsk oblast Gov. Svitlana Onishchuk said it was the largest attack on her province since the beginning of the full-scale war in February 2022.
“The targets are critical energy infrastructure. There are hits! Luckily, currently, there are no victims,” Onishchuk said.
The Guardian reported that the attack was part of a concerted campaign to inflict as much damage to Ukraine’s electricity generation capacity — around half of which has already been destroyed over the past 33 months — ahead of sub-zero temperatures forecast in the next few days.
Kyiv-based energy analyst Andrian Prokip told the paper he believed Russia would persist in its attacks as Moscow and Kyiv jockey for position in the run-up to Jan. 20 when U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump takes over the reins of power from President Joe Biden.
“I have a feeling that they would like to pressure the Ukrainian power system as much as they can before Trump’s inauguration. The Russians would like Trump to believe that Ukraine is already destroyed,” said Prokip.
