Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Russia Hits Key Infrastructure With Missiles Across Ukraine
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 1 year ago on
December 29, 2022

Share

Russian missiles hit Ukraine Thursday in the biggest wave of strikes in weeks, damaging power stations and other critical infrastructure during freezing winter weather.

Russia fired 69 missiles at energy facilities and Ukrainian forces shot down 54, Ukrainian military chief Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi said. Local officials said attacks killed at least two people around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. The strikes also wounded at least six people across the country, although the toll of the attacks was growing as officials assessed the day’s events.

Russia dispatched explosive drones to selected regions overnight before broadening the barrage with air and sea-based missiles, the Ukrainian air force said. Air-raid sirens rang out across the country, and the military activated air-defense systems in Kyiv, the regional administration said.

Russia has attacked Ukrainian power and water supplies almost weekly since October while its ground forces struggle to hold ground and advance. Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned of power outages in the capital, asking people to stockpile water and to charge their electronic devices.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called the attacks“senseless barbarism.”

“There can be no ‘neutrality’ in the face of such mass war crimes. Pretending to be ‘neutral’ equals taking Russia’s side,” Kuleba tweeted.

After more than 10 months of fighting, Russia and Ukraine are locked in a grinding battle of attrition. The Ukrainian military has reclaimed swaths of Russian-occupied territory in the country’s northeast and south, and continues to resist persistent Russia attempts to seize all of the industrial Donbas region in the east.

At the same time, Moscow has targeted Ukrainian power facilities and other key infrastructure in a bid to weaken the country’s resolve and force it to negotiate on Russian terms. The time between strikes has increased in recent weeks, though, leading some commentators to theorize Russia is trying to ration its missile supply.

The Ukrainian military has reported success in shooting down incoming Russian missiles and explosive drones in earlier attacks but many cities have gone without heat, internet and electricity for hours or days at a time.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said a number of energy facilities were damaged during what he said was the 10th such large-scale attack on his country.

“Russia is trying to deprive Ukrainians of light before the New Year,” Shmyhal wrote in a Telegram post. He said that emergency blackouts may be necessary “in some areas.”

About 90% of Lviv was without electricity, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi wrote on Telegram. Trams and trolley buses were not working, and residents might experience water interruptions, he said.

Meanwhile, a Telegram channel affiliated with the presidential press service of Belarus said a Ukrainian S-300 air defense missile landed in Belarusian territory of Belarus early Thursday. It said the missile could have veered off course accidentally and there were no casualties.

The Belarusian Defense Ministry said later that the missile was downed by the Belarusian air defense over the western Brest region and fell into a field, according to a statement carried by the state Belta news agency

Belarus served as a staging ground for Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

Belarus’ foreign ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to express “strong protest,” it said, demanding that Ukraine “conduct a thorough investigation” and “hold those responsible to account.”

The United States said this month that it would give a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine to boost the country’s defense. The U.S. and other allies also pledged to provide energy-related equipment to help Ukraine withstand the attacks on its infrastructure.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Russia was aiming to “destroy critical infrastructure and kill civilians en masse.”

Kuleba, the Ukrainian foreign minister, said Monday that his nation wants a “peace” summit within two months at the United Nations with Secretary-General António Guterres as mediator. He said Russia must face a war-crimes tribunal before his country directly talks with Moscow but that other nations should feel free to engage with the Russians.

Commenting on the summit proposal Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed it as “delirious” and “hollow,” describing the proposal as a “publicity stunt by Washington that tries to cast the Kyiv regime as a peacemaker.”

Russian officials have said that any peace plan can only proceed from Kyiv’s recognition of Russia’s sovereignty over the regions it illegally annexed from Ukraine in September.

A 10-point peace plan Zelensky’y first presented at a November Group of 20 summit in Bali includes the full restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops, the release of all prisoners, a tribunal for those responsible for the aggression and security guarantees for Ukraine.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

This Is Why Banana Ball Drew 31,000 for the Series in Fresno

DON'T MISS

Harper Homers, Wheeler Strikes out 11 as Phillies Complete Sweep of Reeling Giants

DON'T MISS

Liberal Icon Bernie Sanders Is Running for Senate Reelection, Squelching Retirement Rumors

DON'T MISS

Thief Uses Sleight of Hand to Swipe $255K Tiffany Ring, Cops Say

DON'T MISS

California Reports the First Increase in Groundwater Supplies in 4 Years

DON'T MISS

Fresno Charter School Wants to Increase Enrollment. But Are Its Students Lagging Their Peers?

DON'T MISS

Lawsuit Alleges Decades of Child Sex Abuse at Illinois Juvenile Detention Centers Statewide

DON'T MISS

Texas Soldier Arrested in Russia on Theft Charges After Unexpected Detour

DON'T MISS

Fresno Detectives Arrest Motorcycle Club Leader on Arson, Gun Charges

DON'T MISS

Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism Awarded to The New York Times, The Washington Post, AP and Others

UP NEXT

Hamas Accepts Gaza Cease-Fire; Israel Launches Strikes in Rafah

UP NEXT

The Yearly Memorial March at the Former Death Camp at Auschwitz Overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas War

UP NEXT

Hamas Accepts Cease-Fire After Israel Orders Rafah Evacuation

UP NEXT

The Ideas Letter Explores Diverse Perspectives on Global Issues

UP NEXT

Armenia Offers Safe Home for Gaza Manuscripts, Denounces Civilian Targeting

UP NEXT

Russia Warns Britain and Plans Nuclear Drills Over the West’s Possible Deepening Role in Ukraine

UP NEXT

Israel Orders Al Jazeera to Close Its Local Operation, Seizes Some Equipment

UP NEXT

Israel Vows Military Operation ‘in the Very Near Future’ After Latest Hamas Attack

UP NEXT

New Sea Route for Gaza Aid on Track. Treating Starving Children Is a Priority

UP NEXT

Israel Briefs US on Evacuation Plan for Palestinians Ahead of Planned Rafah Assault

Thief Uses Sleight of Hand to Swipe $255K Tiffany Ring, Cops Say

15 hours ago

California Reports the First Increase in Groundwater Supplies in 4 Years

15 hours ago

Fresno Charter School Wants to Increase Enrollment. But Are Its Students Lagging Their Peers?

15 hours ago

Lawsuit Alleges Decades of Child Sex Abuse at Illinois Juvenile Detention Centers Statewide

16 hours ago

Texas Soldier Arrested in Russia on Theft Charges After Unexpected Detour

16 hours ago

Fresno Detectives Arrest Motorcycle Club Leader on Arson, Gun Charges

16 hours ago

Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism Awarded to The New York Times, The Washington Post, AP and Others

17 hours ago

Hamas Accepts Gaza Cease-Fire; Israel Launches Strikes in Rafah

18 hours ago

Tom Brady’s Netflix Roast Features Lots of Jabs and a Belichick-Kraft Reunion

18 hours ago

CA Limits How Police Respond to Protests. Why Were Bean Bag Shotguns Used at UCLA?

18 hours ago

This Is Why Banana Ball Drew 31,000 for the Series in Fresno

If you’re unaware of the Savannah Banana phenomenon, you must be actively avoiding social media, as the team and their rivals, the Par...

14 hours ago

14 hours ago

This Is Why Banana Ball Drew 31,000 for the Series in Fresno

14 hours ago

Harper Homers, Wheeler Strikes out 11 as Phillies Complete Sweep of Reeling Giants

15 hours ago

Liberal Icon Bernie Sanders Is Running for Senate Reelection, Squelching Retirement Rumors

15 hours ago

Thief Uses Sleight of Hand to Swipe $255K Tiffany Ring, Cops Say

15 hours ago

California Reports the First Increase in Groundwater Supplies in 4 Years

15 hours ago

Fresno Charter School Wants to Increase Enrollment. But Are Its Students Lagging Their Peers?

16 hours ago

Lawsuit Alleges Decades of Child Sex Abuse at Illinois Juvenile Detention Centers Statewide

16 hours ago

Texas Soldier Arrested in Russia on Theft Charges After Unexpected Detour

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend