War in Ukraine | At least a million people in the dark after ‘massive’ Russian attack

(Kyiv) Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday’s massive strikes against Ukraine were his “response” to US ATACMS missile launches against Russian territory, despite his previous threats of military escalation addressed to the West.

The master of the Kremlin assured last week that Russia could directly attack the countries that help Kyiv or again fire its “Orechnik” intermediate-range missile against Ukraine.

He has so far not carried out his threats, attacking the energy infrastructure with missiles and drones for the 11^e times of the year, according to Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of carrying out the strikes, which plunged at least a million Ukrainians into darkness at the dawn of winter, with “cluster munitions”.

This constitutes a “despicable escalation”, he denounced.

From Astana, capital of Kazakhstan where he is participating in a regional summit, Vladimir Putin justified the Russian strikes of the night: “This is a response to the continued attacks against our territory using missiles [américains] ATACMS ».

According to him, 90 missiles and 100 explosive drones were launched against Ukraine.

“Orechnik” was therefore not used in this response, but the Russian president announced that “serial” production of the new missile had “begun”, without giving further details.

The Russian president once again praised the merits of this hypersonic weapon with an intermediate range, up to 5,500 km, capable of striking anywhere in Europe, and perhaps even the west coast of the United States.

Facing Central Asian leaders, Vladimir Putin also claimed to know how many ATACMS and Storm Shadow type missiles were in Ukraine, “where they are exactly and how many must be delivered”.

He also threatened to strike “decision-making centers in Kyiv.”

Plunged into the dark

Russia has been attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for almost three years, in order to undermine the morale of the population and handicap the logistics of Kyiv’s army, a tactic which has so far come up against the resilience of the Ukrainians.

On Thursday, the Russian army fired 91 missiles and 97 explosive drones, of which 79 and 35 respectively were intercepted by Kyiv forces, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

But Volodymyr Zelensky above all accused Moscow of having attacked energy infrastructures with “cluster munitions”, de facto undermining these sites and endangering civilians, emergency workers as well as maintenance teams.

These weapons “considerably complicate the task of our rescuers and our electrical engineers” dispatched to the scene, he lamented on social networks.

Volodymyr Zelensky once again called for sending “air defense systems now.”

Energy infrastructure was affected in several regions, causing power cuts “across the country”, according to the boss of one of the Yasno electricity supply companies, Serguiï Kovalenko.

In total, at least one million Ukrainians are plunged into darkness, according to various regional authorities.

Trump, the X factor

Russia has intensified its military pressure on Ukraine in recent weeks, less than two months before Donald Trump’s return to the White House in the United States, seen as a possible turning point.

Very critical of the billions of dollars released by Washington for Ukraine, the president-designate promised to resolve the conflict even before taking the oath of office on January 20.

If Donald Trump has never explained precisely how he intends to proceed, Kyiv fears being pushed to the negotiating table in an unfavorable position.

On Wednesday, he named ex-general Keith Kellogg, 80, who has called on Kyiv for several concessions, as his emissary to end the war.

On the front, Russian forces have taken the opportunity in the meantime to make territorial gains in recent weeks, at a speed not seen since the start of 2022, against a weakened Ukrainian army, particularly around the towns of Pokrovsk, Kourakhové and Koupiansk.

In this very uncertain context, the administration of outgoing President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on Kyiv to lower the minimum age for military mobilization to 18 years – instead of 25 years – currently to compensate for the lack of soldiers.

Kyiv has already lowered the minimum age for mobilization this year from 27 to 25, but has failed to replenish its ranks.