A big-scale Russian missile and drone assault focusing on Ukraine’s vitality system on Christmas Day has been condemned as “inhumane” by president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Half 1,000,000 folks have been left with out heating in Kharkiv in temperatures just some levels above freezing, as blackouts have been reported in Kyiv and different areas.
At least one individual was killed and 6 others wounded within the assault, described by one Ukrainian vitality chief as Vladimir Putin’s “state-sponsored terrorism”.
The large assault got here as Ukraine formally celebrated Christmas on 25 December for under the second time, in a transfer to cut back the affect of the Russian Orthodox Church, which celebrates on 7 January.
The Ukrainian president stated greater than 70 missiles, together with ballistic missiles, and over 100 assault drones have been used to strike Ukraine’s energy sources. Nearly 60 missiles and 54 drones have been shot down, in accordance with Ukraine’s air drive.
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“Every massive Russian strike requires time for preparation. It is never a spontaneous decision. It is a deliberate choice – not only of targets but also of timing and date. Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhumane?” Mr Zelensky stated.
“The targets are our energy infrastructure. They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine.”
Mr Zelensky’s feedback have been echoed by prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, who paid tribute “to the resilience of the Ukrainian people … in the face of further drone and missile attacks from Putin’s bloody and brutal war machine, with no respite, even at Christmas.”
The prime minister added: “As we go into the new year, it remains vital that we redouble our resolve to place Ukraine in the strongest possible position to end Russia’s illegal aggression against the Ukrainian people.”
Having spent Christmas Eve close to the battlefields of the Kharkiv area reporting on Ukrainian drone operators destroying Russian navy targets, The Independent’s Askold Krushelnycky described the assault.
“Two hours after I returned to my hotel I was awoken at 6.30am on Christmas morning by the Russian military attacking civilian targets in Kharkiv,” he stated.
“The city, in eastern Ukraine, is so close to the border that Russia’s missiles, glide bombs and drones, that attack Kharkiv most days, often hit their targets before the air-raid sirens have time to sound.”
Russia’s defence ministry stated it had performed a large-scale strike on what it claimed have been vital vitality amenities supporting Kyiv’s military-industrial complicated. Ukraine’s vitality minister German Galushchenko warned that restrictions on the nation’s electrical energy provide have been in place consequently.
A thermal energy plant was struck, prompting Ukrainians to take shelter in metro stations, with the navy launching a nationwide air alert in response to Russian cruise missile launches. Ukraine’s air drive stated missiles have been fired on the jap Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Poltava areas.
The strikes wounded no less than six folks within the metropolis of Kharkiv and killed one within the Dnipropetrovsk area, native governors stated.
Mr Krushelnycky stated: “I was woken by a loud bang which was followed in the next minutes by at least four more explosions and then a little while later by yet another.
“Since then air raid alarms have been sounding frequently and the sound of emergency vehicles’ sirens has provided the audio backdrop all Christmas Day.
“The hotel where I am staying informed me when I first stayed in it last year that they had no basement and, therefore, no air raid shelter of their own but there was one, a short dash away, available to guests.
“The air raid sirens can sound in the capital, Kyiv, and other large Ukrainian cities multiple times. In Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, it’s a rare day they don’t sound multiple times. So most Ukrainians don’t rush to the shelters when the alarms sound or, in places like Kharkiv, even when there are distant explosions.”
Dnipropetrovsk governor Serhiy Lysak stated the fatality occurred in an assault on regional energy amenities. “Since the morning, the Russian army has been massively attacking the Dnipro region. It is trying to destroy the region’s power system,” he stated.
Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov reported “massive missile fire”, including: “A series of explosions rang out in the city and there are still ballistic missiles flying in the direction of the city. Stay in safe places.”
Ukraine’s largest non-public vitality firm DTEK stated its producing amenities have been attacked, with energy gear significantly broken, within the thirteenth large-scale assault on the vitality sector this 12 months.
“We appeal to every ally of Ukraine to end this state-sponsored terrorism now by giving our armed forces the air defence ammunition they need to protect essential energy infrastructure,” DTEK chief government Maxim Timchenko stated.
Russia has intensified assaults on the Ukrainian vitality sector since spring, damaging virtually half of its producing capability and inflicting extended blackouts.
The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, stated: “Russia’s Christmas gift to Ukraine: more than 70 missiles and 100 drones, directed at Ukrainian families celebrating in their homes and the energy infrastructure that keeps them.
“For the third holiday season, Russia weaponises winter.”
The newest assault got here only a day after no less than one individual was killed and 15 injured in Mr Zelensky’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih – after a ballistic missile struck an condo constructing within the central Ukrainian metropolis.
“The monsters landed a direct hit on a four-storey residential block with 32 apartments,” stated native navy chief Oleksandr Vilkul.
Additional reporting by information companies
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-russia-energy-attack-christmas-b2669835.html