Russia fires nearly 300 drones and missiles in attack on Ukraine energy sector, Kyiv says
Ukraine's energy system has already suffered 11 Russian attack waves this year
Russia launched a massive aerial attack against Ukraine on Friday, firing 93 missiles and almost 200 drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, describing it as one of the heaviest bombardments of the country's energy sector since Russia's full-scale invasion almost three years ago.
Ukrainian defences shot down 81 missiles, including 11 cruise missiles that were intercepted by F-16 warplanes provided by Western allies earlier this year, Zelenskyy said. Russia is "terrorizing millions of people" with such assaults, he said on his Telegram channel, renewing his plea for international unity against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"A strong reaction from the world is needed: a massive strike — a massive reaction. This is the only way to stop terror," Zelenskyy said.
In Moscow, the Defence Ministry said the Russian military used long-range precision missiles and drones on "critically important fuel and energy facilities in Ukraine that ensure the functioning of the military industrial complex."
The strike was in retaliation for Wednesday's Ukrainian attack using the U.S.-supplied Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMs, on a Russian airbase, it said.
The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said Friday's attack also targeted transport networks and other key facilities.
Ukraine's biggest private energy company, DTEK, said the attack "seriously damaged" its thermal power plants.
Ballistic missiles used
Russia has repeatedly attempted to cripple Ukraine's electricity system in an effort to break the will of civilians left in the dark with no running water or heating and to disrupt Ukrainian defence manufacturing.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said energy workers were doing everything necessary to "minimize negative consequences for the energy system," promising to release more details on damages once the security situation allowed it.
Ukraine's air force said in addition to drones and cruise missiles, Russia used air-launched ballistic Kinzhal missiles against Ukraine's western regions. A similar massive attack on Nov. 28 involved about 200 missiles and drones and left more than a million households without power until emergency teams restored supplies.
Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia is stockpiling cruise and ballistic missiles for more attacks.
On Nov. 21, Russia for the first time used an intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile to strike an industrial plant in the city of Dnipro, in eastern Ukraine. U.S. officials warned Wednesday that the Oreshnik could be used again in coming days, but there was no immediate sign one was launched in Friday's attack.
Around half of Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been destroyed during the war, and rolling electricity blackouts are common and widespread.
Kyiv's Western allies have provided Ukraine with air defence systems to help it protect critical infrastructure, but Russia has sought to overwhelm the air defences with combined strikes involving large numbers of missiles and drones called "swarms."
Nearing key city
Russia has held the initiative this year as its military has steadily rammed through Ukrainian defences in the east in a series of slow but steady offensives.
Ukraine's military said in recent days that Russian troops destroyed or captured several Ukrainian positions near Pokrovsk in the east. The city is an important logistics centre for the Ukrainian military, and it would represent one of Ukraine's biggest military losses in months.
Control of the city, which the Russian media call "the gateway to Donetsk," would allow Moscow to severely disrupt Ukrainian supply lines along the eastern front and boost its campaign to capture the city of Chasiv Yar, which sits on higher ground offering potential control of a wider area.
Squeezing the Ukrainian military's access to the road network in the vicinity would make it harder for Kyiv's troops to hold pockets of territory either side of Pokrovsk, which could allow Russia to consolidate and advance the front line.
The city also hosts a mine which is Ukraine's only domestic coking coal supplier for its once-giant steel industry.
Uncertainty surrounds how the war might unfold next year. President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office next month, has vowed to end the war and has thrown into doubt whether vital U.S. military support for Kyiv will continue.
The Kremlin on Friday praised Trump's criticism of Ukrainian strikes with U.S. missiles deep into Russian territory and said the position was fully in line with Moscow's own position.
Trump criticized Ukraine's use of U.S.-supplied missiles for attacks deep into Russian territory in a Time magazine interview published on Thursday, comments that suggest he could alter American policy toward Ukraine.
With files from Reuters