The Kremlin launched more than seventy missiles and around a hundred explosive drones into Ukrainian territory this Wednesday, December 25, 2024. The country's energy network was strongly affected by these strikes.
Russia launched more than 70 missiles and more than 100 explosive drones on Ukraine on Wednesday, targeting its energy system, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without electricity or heat on Christmas Day.
Russian President Vladimir “Putin consciously chose Christmas for his attack. What could be more inhumane?” launched his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Telegram. “More than 50 missiles” and some drones were shot down.
This “terror” East “Putin's response to those who spoke of an illusory Christmas ceasefire” between kyiv and Moscow, asserted the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Andriï Sybiga. The strikes targeted six Ukrainian regions, leaving at least one dead and six injured and causing widespread heating outages in near-zero temperatures, according to Ukrainian authorities.
One employee killed and many injured
In the city of Dnipro, an employee of a thermal power plant was killed, said Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiï Kuleba. In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, half a million homes remained without electricity, heating and tap water, said the governor of this region Oleg Synegoubov.
At least six people were injured in Kharkiv in these latest attacks, according to Mr. Synegoubov. The Ukrainian Air Force said it detected 78 Russian missiles and 106 drones, claiming to have shot down 59 and 54 respectively.
On the Russian side, a Ukrainian strike left four dead and several injured on Wednesday in Lgov, a town in the Kursk border region, where Ukraine has been leading an offensive since August, said interim governor Alexander Khinchteïn.
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Thermal power plants targeted
DTEK Group, Ukraine's main private energy supplier, said its thermal power plants were targeted in Wednesday's attack, signaling “serious damage” for their equipment. “This is already the thirteenth massive attack on the Ukrainian energy system this year”according to a press release.
The national electricity company, Ukrenergo, announced supply restrictions. “The enemy is once again massively attacking the energy sector”which obliges the authorities to “measures” to reduce consumption, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko explained on Telegram. The cuts even briefly affected the Ivano-Frankivsk region, in the west of the country and hundreds of kilometers from the front line, according to the regional administration.
In addition, one of the Russian missiles crossed Moldovan and Romanian airspace, said Mr. Sybiga on the social network by a Russian missile.
A symbolic date
Wednesday's attacks come on the day when Ukraine, for the second time in its modern history, celebrates Christmas Day on December 25, as in the Western world, and no longer on January 7 which corresponds to December 25 of ancient Julian calendar still followed by the Russian Orthodox Church for religious holidays.
This change was made official during the summer of 2023, in particular to differentiate itself from Russia. Between 2017 and 2022, Ukraine, a predominantly Orthodox country, had already celebrated this holiday on December 25 and January 7.
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Ukraine and Russia have intensified their strikes in recent months and want to do everything to strengthen their positions before Donald Trump returns to the White House in January, with the US president-elect having said he wants to stop “the carnage” upon taking office. The Russian army, which has been advancing rapidly in recent months in eastern Ukraine, is trying to further accelerate its march forward.
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