Guwahati: More than 70 Russian missiles were fired at Ukraine, causing the second-largest city to lose electricity and forcing Kyiv to impose a state-wide emergency blackout on December 16.
Four people were reportedly murdered when an apartment building in Kryvyi Rih’s central district was struck, and a further person was reportedly killed during shelling in Kherson in the south.
Russian-installed officials in eastern Ukraine’s occupied territory claim that 12 persons were killed by Ukrainian shelling.
The president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated in a nighttime video message that Russia still had enough missiles for a number of additional large-scale attacks and he begged Western allies to give Kyiv more and stronger air defence systems.
“Whatever the rocket worshippers from Moscow are counting on, it still won’t change the balance of power in this war,” Zelensky said.
Approximately a year after its invasion on February 24 in which large portions of Ukraine were destroyed by missiles and artillery but only a small fraction was occupied by Russian forces, Kiev on Thursday, December 16 warned of a fresh all-out onslaught early next year.
Russia has been attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with missiles almost every week since early October as a result of repeated battlefield losses, but Friday’s attack seemed to cause more harm than many others as snow and ice are now commonplace.
The Ukrainian grid operator Ukrenergo abolished the emergency situation that had compelled them to implement blackouts after making minor repairs. Ukrenergo cautioned that compared to earlier bombardments, it would take longer to fix the machinery and restore power.
Its army leader claimed that 60 of the 76 Russian missiles were shot down, but German Galushchenko, the energy minister, claimed that at least nine power plants were struck.
Moscow asserts that the attacks are meant to weaken Ukraine’s armed forces. They are regarded as war crimes by Ukrainians.