The Russian criminal campaign is continuing with massive air strikes against energy, infrastructure
On the eve of celebrations to welcome in this New Year in Ukraine, Russia has launched one of its most powerful missile strikes of the war on energy infrastructure. After dawn an explosion echoing through cities and towns throughout the nation as the 69 cruise missiles as well as armed drones were launched at civilian targets. Kyiv said was one of the largest days of air strikes since the Kremlin began a campaign to attack Ukraine’s electric, water and heating system, that as temperatures began to drop with the onset of winter have centered on the power grid. Thursday’s attacks were the 10th big-scale attack against the power grid of Ukraine since September.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has employed the method to diminish the motivation to fight among the civilian population by casting civilians in darkness and freezing at sub-zero temperature as the war is entering the 10th month of its existence. According to Kyiv military, air defense units from the Ukrainian military have destroyed 54 of the cruise missiles fired from Russian forces. However, the latest wave of attacks left the majority of the city of Lviv in western Ukraine not having electricity in accordance with local authorities in addition to water supply being seriously hit. In Kyiv the city, 40 percent of residential buildings were left without electric power, Kyiv’s mayor the capital, Vitali Klitschko, said.
A Ukrainian anti-aircraft ballistic missile landed on Belarusian territory, according to BelTA the Belarusian state-owned news agency, which added there was no report of any casualties. It is believed that the Belarusian Defense Ministry is investigating whether it was shot down by its own defence systems for air or whether it missed its intended target.
As dawn broke over Kiev as the sun rose, the sound of missiles and grey trails flew across the sky. Sirens from air raids had previously issued a warning to the capital, like the whole country in general, was on the alert for a missile attack. At the time of Thursday’s attack, sixteen projectiles launched by Moscow focused on the Ukrainian capital, all were intercepted by anti-aircraft defenses, according to the Kyiv officials. The shell fragments however struck two houses, a children’s playground , and a factory which injured three people, including a 14-year-old According to the mayor’s office.
Russian strikes have also damaged infrastructure that was damaged in Odesa, a port town Odesa and the cities of the north in Zhytomyr as well as Kharkiv. Several buildings, even a power line and gas pipeline were destroyed in shelling on the outskirts of the central city of southern Zaporizhzhia in the words of the regional governor, Oleksandr Staruj. In Kherson that was freed from the hands of Ukrainian military in October and was the subject of heavy shelling over the past few days, an attack on a medical clinic, according local officials, injuring two persons. “They imagine that Ukrainians can celebrate their New Year in darkness and frigid temperatures. But they will never be able defeat the Ukrainian people,” Kyiv’s Defense Ministry said on social media.
A power plant in Kyiv is burning after the drone strike on December 19 2022. A power plant in Kyiv burns after the drone strike on December 19th 2022.
SERGEI SUPINSKY (AFP)
The most recent round of air strike was carried out by at least two warships and 13 strategic bombers carrying cruise missiles According to Ukrainian Air Force. Before the missiles began to drop, Moscow sent waves of Iranian-made Shahed suicide drones. These are used by Russian forces to try to deter Ukrainian air defense units ahead of subsequent missile strikes. A squadron of thirteen drones was sent against Kharkiv eleven of which were taken down, according local officials. In Dnipro an important city located in central country and a logistics and communication hub the drones fell just before missiles were fired. The Ukrainian Army’s Southern Command reports that three Russian missile-carrying warships have taken up combat positions in the Black Sea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned days ago that Russia planned large-scale military strikes over the course of the Christmas holiday. “With the approaching holiday season, Russian terrorists may become active again,” he stated. “They despise Christian values and any values in general.”
The strikes on Thursday came just days after an air strike against the Russian strategic bomber’s base at the base from which Moscow has carried out raids against critical Ukrainian infrastructure. At least three Russian troops were wounded during an attack which revealed flaws in Moscow’s anti-aircraft defences. It was the second time a drone has attacked within the Engels airbase that is located in the Saratov area, which is many miles away from the Ukrainian border. Similar to what it did after previous attacks on bases in Russian territorial waters, the Ukrainian government used cryptic language, falling short of attributing these strikes to the country’s own military while also declaring that they were a direct consequence of the Russian war.