DAMIEN SIMONART / AFP
War in Ukraine: a massive Russian attack, Poland mobilizes “all available forces” (illustrative photo taken in June 2016 and showing a Polish F16 over the north of the country).
WAR IN UKRAINE – A precautionary measure which says everything about the violence of the attack. This Sunday, November 17, the Polish army announced that it had taken off fighter planes and mobilized “ all available forces and resources » to protect its territory while a “ massive attack » of Russian missiles and drones was underway against neighboring Ukraine.
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Andriï Sybiga, even considered that it was a question of “one of the greatest” air attacks launched by Russia in the conflict, while the thousand days mark since the start of the Russian invasion will be reached on Tuesday the 19th.
« Due to a massive attack by the Russian Federation carrying out strikes using cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones against facilities located in, among other places, western Ukraine, operations of Polish and allied planes in our airspace began “, wrote the Polish central command on X. These measures “ are intended to ensure security in sectors adjacent to threatened areas “, he added.
Emergency power cuts in Ukraine
At the same time, in Ukraine, Energy Minister German Galushchenko indicated on Telegram that a “ massive attack on the electrical system is underway ”, and that the Russian forces “ attack electricity generation and transmission facilities across Ukraine ».
The Ukrainian energy operator, DTEK, announced on Telegram “emergency power outages” in the kyiv region and in two regions in the east of the country: Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk.
Since the start of the conflict, Russia, by increasing its drone and missile attacks, has destroyed half of Ukraine's energy capacity, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. kyiv is therefore urging its Western partners to help it rebuild its electricity network, a project which requires significant investment, and to provide it with more air defense equipment to counter Russian bombings. Ukraine is facing major power cuts, raising fears of a harsh winter.
For his part, the mayor of kyiv, Vitali Klitchko, reported one person injured by the fall of a drone fragment on a residential building. Local authorities and Ukrainian media have also reported numerous explosions across the country, notably in Zaporizhia, Odessa and Mykolaiv in the south, as well as in Cherniguiv in the north. Enough to make Andriï Sybiga say that Russia sent “ drones and missiles against peaceful cities, sleeping civilians, critical infrastructure ».
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