Massive Russian missile attacks damaged energy facilities and injured at least three people in Ukraine on Wednesday, the day the country celebrates Christmas on December 25 for the second time in its history.
An air alert is in effect across Ukraine on Wednesday morning, as the Air Force reports launches of Russian Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea, and authorities in Kharkiv announce the fall of several missiles ballistics on this large city in the east of the country.
Kharkiv targeted by massive missile attack
et ballistic missiles are still heading towards the city. Stay safe
Mayor Igor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.
The Russian army carried out at least seven strikes
specified, also on Telegram, the regional governor of Kharkiv, Oleg Synegoubov.
According to these two officials, at least three people were injured, and the attacks also caused material damage.
The Ukrainian Air Force, for its part, reported the launch of Russian Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea, and reported that projectiles were heading towards the regions of Vinnytsia (center), Poltava (east), Dnipropetrovsk ( southeast), Kirovograd (center) and Cherkassy (center).
Since this morning, the Russian army has been massively attacking the Dnipropetrovsk region. The enemy is trying to destroy the region's power grid.
The national electricity company, Ukrenergo, announced supply restrictions.
The enemy is once again massively attacking the energy sector. The transmission network manager takes the necessary measures to limit consumption in order to minimize negative consequences for the energy system
Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on Telegram.
As soon as safety conditions allow, energy sector workers will clarify the damage caused
he added.
Since the start of the war in February 2022, Russia has seriously damaged Ukraine's electricity grid by repeatedly bombing it, causing regular power outages.
Christmas trip
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 as in the Julian calendar followed by the Russian Orthodox Church.
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Ukrainians stage a traditional Christmas pageant to raise funds for the Ukrainian army in central Kharkiv, December 24, 2024.
Photo: afp via getty images / IVAN SAMOILOV
This Christmas trip was made official during the summer of 2023 by a law promulgated by President Volodymyr Zelensky as a sign of defiance towards Russia.
On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised even more destruction
to Ukraine, after a drone attack on residential buildings in the city of Kazan, a thousand kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
Anyone who tries to destroy something in our country, no matter how small, will face much greater destruction in their own country and will regret what they tried to do to our country.
On Wednesday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that 59 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted over Russian territory during the previous night, including 26 in the Belgorod region and 23 in the Voronezh region.
Voronezh Governor Aleksandr Gusev wrote on Telegram that debris from the downed drones damaged a power line and caused minor material damage to several houses.
