Many Ukrainians had been celebrating with out warmth or energy after Russia launched a Christmas Day assault on the nation’s power infrastructure, an act that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned as “inhuman.”
“Today, Putin intentionally selected Christmas for an assault. What might be extra inhuman,” Zelenskyy mentioned in a put up on X early Wednesday. “Every Russian large strike takes time to arrange. It is rarely a spontaneous determination. It is a acutely aware selection not solely of targets, but in addition of time and date.”
More than 70 Russian missiles and greater than 100 drones focused Ukraine’s power infrastructure, with Ukrainian forces efficiently taking pictures down greater than 50 missiles and a big variety of drones, Zelenskyy added in his put up.
Zelenskyy additionally mentioned that the “focused assault” on the power sector precipitated outages in a number of areas, together with Kyiv, and emphasised that Russian forces “proceed to battle for a blackout in Ukraine.”
“Russian evil is not going to break Ukraine and won’t distort Christmas,” he mentioned.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the assaults.
“This morning, Russia’s Armed Forces carried out a large strike with long-range precision weapons and strike drones on crucial power infrastructure amenities in Ukraine that make sure the operation of the military-industrial advanced,” the ministry mentioned in its day by day briefing on Telegram.
“The strike’s goal was achieved. All amenities had been hit,” it added.
“This Christmas terror is Putin’s response to those that spoke about illusionary ‘Christmas ceasefire’,” Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s international minister, mentioned in a put up on X on Wednesday morning.
The assault precipitated “critical harm” to thermal energy plant tools, in response to DTEK, Ukraine’s largest power firm. Once the shelling stopped, power sector employees started “restoring the tools” to make sure a swift restoration, it mentioned.
U.S. President Joe Biden described it as an “outrageous assault” to deprive Ukrainians of warmth and electrical energy in the course of the winter. He additionally mentioned he has informed the Defense Department to proceed its “surge of weapons deliveries” to Ukraine.
“Let me be clear: The Ukrainian individuals should stay in peace and security, and the United States and the worldwide neighborhood should proceed to face with Ukraine till it triumphs over Russia’s aggression,” Biden mentioned.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Hlushchenko confirmed that Russia was “massively attacking the power system,” in a Telegram put up Wednesday morning.
He urged individuals to remain in shelters till the shelling stopped, including that needed measures had been applied to “decrease the unfavorable penalties for the facility system.”
This marks Russia’s thirteenth assault on Ukraine’s power sector this 12 months, and the tenth assault on the corporate’s power enterprises, in response to a put up on DTEK’s official telegram account.
It additionally marks solely the second time in trendy Ukrainian historical past that Christmas is formally celebrated Dec. 25, a big shift away from the normal Jan. 7 celebration noticed by Russians and different Eastern Orthodox Christians.
“For the second time in trendy historical past, Christmas unites all Ukrainians,” Zelenskyy mentioned in an earlier put up on X.
“Today, we stand aspect by aspect. And we is not going to be misplaced,” Zelenskyy mentioned, including, “Ukrainians are collectively as we speak. And so long as we do that, evil has no likelihood.”
Meanwhile, Russian officers mentioned Wednesday that 4 individuals had been killed and 5 injured within the partially occupied Kursk area after Ukrainian shelling.
The area’s performing governor, Alexander Khinshtein, mentioned in a put up on Telegram that the gasoline and electrical energy provide within the city of Lgov had additionally been disrupted by the shelling.