Russia A massive missile and drone attack launched on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Wednesday, hitting a thermal power plant and prompting Ukrainians to seek shelter in subway stations on Christmas morning.
The attacks on Ukrainian fuel and energy sources included 78 air-, ground- and sea-based missiles as well as 106 Shaheds and other types of drones, the Ukrainian Air Force said. It said it intercepted 59 missiles and 54 drones, and 52 other drones were blocked.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhumane?” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X: “They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, in Russia, a woman died and three people were injured after falling debris from a downed drone sparked a fire at 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 occurred outside the Alania shopping center on Wednesday morning.
At least one person was killed in the Russian attack on the Dnipro region of Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said on Telegram, adding that heating was cut off in 155 residential buildings. He also said that 500,000 people in the Kharkiv region had no heating.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said a Russian missile passed through Moldovan and Romanian airspace.
Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said Russia was again “massively attacking energy infrastructure.” According to the Ukrainian Air Force, several rockets were fired at the Kharkiv, Dnipro and Poltava regions in the east of the country.
Get breaking national news
If you want to receive news that affects Canada and around the world, you can sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to you as soon as they happen.
Halushchenko said the electricity distributor has taken the necessary measures to limit consumption. “As soon as the security situation allows, energy experts will assess the damage caused,” he said. State power utility Ukrenergo carried out preemptive power outages across the country due to a “massive missile attack”, leading to blackouts in several districts of the capital Kiev.
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.
“Denying light and warmth to millions of peace-loving people as they celebrate 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 and sparked fires across the city, regional director Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram. According to local authorities, at least three people were injured.
“Kharkiv is under massive rocket fire. There have been a number of explosions in the city and ballistic missiles are still flying towards the city. Stay in safe places,” said Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in its morning report on Wednesday that it shot down 59 Ukrainian drones overnight, including over the Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk, Bryansk and Tambov regions, as well as over the Sea of Azov. The North Ossetian-Alania incident was not mentioned.
Four people were also killed by Ukrainian shelling in the city of Lgov in the Kursk region, said regional director Alexander Chinshtein. Three people died after several apartment blocks and a beauty salon were hit, he said. Another person died later in a hospital.
&Copy 2024 The Canadian Press
