A person waits for evacuation to western Ukraine, standing by a bed in a city theater that welcomes refugees fleeing the Russian offensive within the Donetsk Oblast, in Pavlohrad, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine, Thursday, December 12, 2024.
Efrem Lukatsky/AP
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Efrem Lukatsky/AP
KYIV, Ukraine – Russia launched a large air attack on Ukraine on Friday, firing 93 missiles and nearly 200 drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, describing it as one in all the heaviest bombings of the country’s energy sector since Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly three years ago .
Zelensky said Ukrainian defenses shot down 81 missiles, including 11 cruise missiles intercepted by F-16 warplanes delivered by Western allies earlier this 12 months.
Russia is “terrorizing millions of people” with such attacks, he said on his Telegram channel, renewing his call for international unity against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“A decisive response from the world is required: a mass strike – a mass response. This is the one strategy to stop terror,” Zelensky said.
However, uncertainty surrounds how the war may develop next 12 months. President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office next month, has vowed to finish the war and solid doubt on whether significant U.S. military support for Kiev will proceed.
The U.S. Embassy in Kiev said Friday’s attack also targeted transportation networks and other key facilities.
Russia has repeatedly tried to paralyze Ukraine’s electricity system in an try to break the need of civilians left at midnight without running water and heating, and to disrupt Ukrainian defense production.
Ukraine’s Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said energy staff are doing every little thing needed to “minimize negative consequences for the energy system,” promising to disclose more details in regards to the damage as soon as the safety situation allows.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that multiple attack drones were launched into Ukraine overnight, which resulted in swarms of cruise missiles appearing within the country’s airspace. It said Russia also used Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles against western regions of Ukraine.
Moscow stated that the air attacks are aimed toward disabling the Ukrainian defense industry, thwarting, amongst other things, production of missiles, drones, armored vehicles and artillery.
The same massive attack on November 28 involved around 200 rockets and drones and left greater than one million households without power until emergency teams restored supplies.
Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia is stockpiling cruise and ballistic missiles for further attacks.
On November 21, Russia used a medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile for the primary time to strike an industrial plant in town of Dnipro in eastern Ukraine. Putin described the Oreshnik missile attack as retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory using Western long-range weapons.
He said there might be more attacks using the brand new weapon, and U.S. officials warned Wednesday that the Oreshnik might be used again in the approaching days. There were no immediate signs of an attack during Friday’s attack.
On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine hit the Taganrog air base within the southern Rostov Oblast with six U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles, injuring several soldiers and damaging buildings and several other vehicles. He promised a counterattack.
About half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been destroyed in nearly three years of war with Russia, and power outages are widespread.
Kiev’s Western allies have provided Ukraine with air defense systems to assist it protect critical infrastructure, but Russia has sought to defeat air defenses with combined attacks involving large numbers of missiles and drones.
Russia took the lead this 12 months as its military steadily punched through Ukrainian defenses within the east in a series of slow but regular offensives.
