In the days leading up to celebrations to welcome in this New Year in Ukraine, Russia began one of the largest missile attacks of the war on energy infrastructure. Shortly after dawn, the sound of explosions were heard in cities and towns across Ukraine as more than 69 cruise missiles along with armed drones were launched at civilian targets. Kyiv described as one of the most intense days of air attacks since the Kremlin began a campaign to attack Ukraine’s electric, water as well as heating systems and as temperatures begin to fall with the arrival of winter, they have targeted the power grid. Thursday’s strikes were the 10th massive attack on Ukraine’s power grid in the month of the beginning of September.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has employed the strategy to disarm the desire for resistance among Ukraine’s civilians by shoving non-combatants in darkness and cold at sub-zero temperature as the war enters it’s 10th month. According to Kyiv military, air defense units belonging to the Ukrainian military have knocked down 54 of the 69 cruise missiles fired by Russian forces. But the most recent round of missiles left 90% in the capital city Lviv in western Ukraine with no electricity in accordance with local authorities and water supplies were also very affected. In Kyiv, 40% of houses were still without electric supply, Kyiv’s mayor the capital, Vitali Klitschko, said.
A Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile struck Belarusian territorial territory, according to BelTA The state news agency. It added that there were no reports of casualties. The Belarusian Defense Ministry is investigating whether it was shot down by the country’s defence systems for air or whether it was unable to hit its target.
When dawn broke over Kiev The hum of missiles and gray trails swept across the sky. Sirens from air raids had previously provided warning that the capital and the entire nation in general, was on the alert for an attack by missile. In Thursday’s attacks, 16 projectiles fired by Moscow targeted the Ukrainian capital city, and all of them were stopped by anti-aircraft defenses according to the Kyiv officials. In the end, shell fragments struck two houses, a child’s playground and a factory, and injured three individuals, among them a 14-year-old girl, according to the Kyiv mayor’s office.
Russian strikes also damaged infrastructure in the port city of Odesa and the cities of the north that are Zhytomyr as well as Kharkiv. A number of buildings, the power line as well as a gas pipeline were damaged in attacks on the outer reaches of the city in the south-central region of Zaporizhzhia According to the regional governor, Oleksandr Staruj. In Kherson, which was liberated by Ukrainian troops in the month of November and is the site of heavy shelling over the last few days the missile struck a medical centre, as per officials in the area, wounding two individuals. “They imagine of a time when Ukrainians will be celebrating this New Year in darkness and cold. However, they are not able to defeat the Ukrainian populace,” Kyiv’s Defense Ministry posted on social media.
A power plant located in Kyiv has been destroyed by a drone attack on December 19th 2022. A power plant located in Kyiv is burning after the drone strike on December 19th, 2022.
SERGEI SUPINSKY (AFP)
The most recent round of air attacks was performed by at the very least two warships as well as 13 strategic bombers that carried cruise missiles According to Ukrainian Air Force. Shortly before the missiles began to fall, Moscow sent waves of Iranian-made Shahed suicide drones, which are used by Russian forces to try to deter Ukrainian air defense forces prior to missile strikes that follow. A group of 13 of these drones were used against Kharkiv which saw 11 of them shot down, as per the local authorities. In Dnipro which is a city that plays a crucial role situated in the middle of the country and a logistics and communications hub 5 drones were shot down before a wave of missiles was launched. The Ukrainian Army’s southern command reports that three Russian ships carrying missiles have taken on positions of combat in the Black Sea.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned days earlier that Russia planned large-scale military strikes in the holiday season. “With the approaching holiday season, Russian terrorists may become active again,” Zelenskiy said. “They despise Christian values and any values in general.”
The strike on Thursday was just days away from an air strike against a Russian strategic bomber base, which is from where Moscow has carried out raids against vital Ukrainian infrastructure. At least three Russian soldiers were killed in an attack which revealed flaws in Moscow’s anti-aircraft defenses. This was the second drone attack carried out at the Engels airbase in the Saratov region, some hundreds of miles away from Ukrainian frontier. Similar to what it did after previous strikes on bases located on Russian territorial waters and on Russian territory, the Ukrainian government used cryptic words and did not attribute these strikes to the country’s own army while clarifying that they’re a direct consequence of Russia’s war.
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