Ukraine says Russia launched “inhumane” attack on Christmas Day
Russia A large barrage of missiles and drones targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Wednesday, hitting a thermal power plant and prompting Ukrainians to take shelter in subway stations on Christmas morning.
The strikes on Ukraine’s fuel and energy sources included 78 air-, land- and sea-launched missiles, including 106 Shahed and other types of drones, the Ukrainian Air Force said. It claimed to have intercepted 59 missiles and 54 drones, and jammed another 52 drones.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin deliberately chose Christmas for the attack. What could be more inhuman than that?” President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in X: “They continue to fight for blackouts in Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, in Russia, a woman was killed and three others injured as a result of debris falling from a drone shot down at a shopping center in the city of Vladikavkaz. Head of Russia’s North Ossetia-Alania Republic, Sergei Menyailo, said that security camera footage shows that the explosion took place in front of the Alania shopping center on Wednesday morning.
As a result of the Russian attack on the Dnieper region of Ukraine, at least one person was killed, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram that the heating of 155 residential buildings was cut off. He also said that 500,000 people in Kharkiv region are without heat.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that a Russian missile crossed the airspace of Moldova and Romania.
Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that Russia is again “massively attacking the energy infrastructure”. The Air Force of Ukraine said that numerous rockets were fired at Kharkiv, Dnieper and Poltava regions in the east of the country.
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Halushenko said that the energy distributor has taken necessary measures to limit consumption. “As soon as the security situation allows, energy workers will determine the damage,” he said. State energy operator Ukrenergo imposed a nationwide blackout due to a “massive missile attack” that caused power outages in several districts of the capital, Kyiv.
Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK said Russia struck one of its thermal power plants on Wednesday morning, the 13th attack on Ukraine’s power grid this year.
DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko wrote on his X account: “Depriving millions of peace-loving people of light and heat while celebrating Christmas is a deviant and evil act that must be answered.”
Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the region, wrote on Telegram that at least seven strikes targeted Kharkiv, causing fires throughout the city. At least three people were injured, local authorities said.
“Kharkov is under massive rocket fire. A series of explosions rang out in the city and ballistic missiles are still flying in the direction of the city. Stay in safe places,” said Kharkov Mayor Igor Terekhov.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a report on Wednesday morning 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 incident in North Ossetia-Alania was not mentioned.
Four people were killed as a result of the shelling of the city of Lgov in the Kursk region of Ukraine, the head of the region, Alexander Khinshtein, said. According to him, 3 people died as a result of hitting several housing estates and a beauty salon. Another person died later in the hospital.
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