During the night and early morning this Sunday, November 17, Russia carried out a series of strikes against various Ukrainian cities. The country’s electricity network, already weakened, suffered from this attack. Volodymyr Zelensky once again called for international solidarity against the Kremlin.
On Saturday November 16, Volodymyr Zelensky called for an end to the war by “diplomatic” means. A call to which Moscow responded, a few hours later, with numerous strikes until the early hours of Sunday, November 17. According to the Ukrainian president, 120 missiles and 90 drones were directed towards Ukraine, two days before the 1,000th day of war.
• At least eight dead and several injured
Zaporizhia, kyiv, Odessa… Many cities were targeted by the Russian army, leaving a large number of victims spread across Ukrainian territory. At least eight dead and more than twenty injured have been recorded by the emergency services and local authorities.
Two railway workers were killed in the line of duty, as announced by the Ukrzaliznytsia company, without specifying their location.
Another example, in Nikopol where two people died following Russian bombings, “a 58-year-old man and a 62-year-old woman”, according to Serhi Lyssak, head of Dnipropetrovsk.
Russia also struck Mykolaiv, a port city in southern Ukraine, in the early hours of the morning. According to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, the Russian strike hit civilian infrastructure. Two deaths are to be deplored, as well as six injured, including two children, according to a press release.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha regrets that “peaceful towns, sleeping civilians” were targeted.
• The country’s electricity system damaged, a gradual return to normal
“A massive combined attack targeted all regions of Ukraine” and targeted “our energy infrastructure,” regretted President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian energy network, already very fragile, has suffered from these new attacks.
Power cuts described as preventative first took place in the early hours of the day. Ukrainian energy operator DTEK later clarified that power was being restored “gradually” to the affected regions.
The fact remains that these new attacks are damaging a network already greatly weakened by two years of war. According to kyiv, half of the country’s energy capacity has been cut since February 2022.
These difficulties are all the more annoying as the temperatures are already cool in Ukraine. In kyiv, this Sunday morning, values were around 6°C, while Odessa was not expected to exceed 10°C during the hottest hours.
• Poland took off its fighter planes
Could the attack have led to a wider escalation? At around 6 a.m., the Polish military command center announced that it was taking off its fighter jets during the Russian “massive attack” in Ukraine, as Russian bombings approached the common border between the two countries.
“Due to a massive attack by the Russian Federation carrying out cruise missile, ballistic missile and drone strikes against facilities in, among other places, western Ukraine, Operations of Polish and allied aircraft in our airspace have begun,” the military authority initially indicated.
The operation stopped after 9 a.m., “thanks to the end of Russian strikes against targets in Ukraine.”
• Volodymyr Zelensky relaunches a call for “unity” against Moscow
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reads this new major attack as a new method of “intimidation” from Moscow. Faced with these attacks, he called for “unity” among his allies against Russia.
“The whole world sees and knows that we defend ourselves against absolute evil, which knows no other language than force. We need unity, the world needs unity. Only together can we will be able to stop this evil,” the warlord hoped in a statement.
Donald Trump facing the rest of the world
These statements take place in a double context. First, the recent election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, which could disengage the United States or reduce military and economic support provided to Ukraine. Then, the desire for a “diplomatic” resolution to the war issued the day before by Volodymyr Zelensky himself.
