KYIV: Russia hammered Ukrainian energy facilities in a massive aerial attack on Friday that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said was one of the largest yet on the ailing grid and evidence of why Kyiv needed more Western support before any peace with Russia.
Russia’s 12th major assault on the energy system this year damaged power facilities in several Ukrainian regions and forced authorities to impose even longer electricity cuts for millions of civilians, the national grid operator said.
With winter temperatures currently around -6 degrees Celsius, the strikes increase pressure on Ukraine at an unpredictable moment with Donald Trump set to return to the White House next month, vowing to end the war quickly.
“This is (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s plan for ‘peace’ – to destroy everything. This is how he wants ‘negotiations’ – terrorising millions of people,” Zelenskiy said on X.
“A strong reaction from the world is needed: a massive strike – a massive reaction.”
Russia launched 93 missiles, including one manufactured in North Korea, and nearly 200 drones during the attack, Zelenskiy said. Air defences intercepted 81 of the missiles, including 11 shot down by F-16 fighter jets, he added.
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The full extent of the damage was hard to assess. After repeated Russian attacks, officials reveal little detailed information about the state of the network.
Six unspecified energy facilities were damaged in the western region of Lviv that borders Poland, officials said.
An industry source told Reuters the attack had targeted power substations and that there had been more strikes on gas infrastructure than in past assaults.
Unspecified equipment at thermal power plants sustained serious damage, according to DTEK, Ukraine’s biggest private power provider, which has been battered by the strikes since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
Officials said they had imposed additional power cuts due to the attack. In the region outside Kyiv, the power cuts were scheduled to last for 11 hours, up from eight hours before the attack. Around a half of power company Yasno’s 3.5 million consumers were without power on Friday, their CEO said.
“I reiterate my call for the urgent delivery of 20 NASAMS, HAWK, or IRIS-T air defense systems,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote in a post on X, responding to the attack.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said five of Ukraine’s nine operating nuclear reactor units had reduced power output due to renewed attacks on energy infrastructure.
One person received light injuries, officials said.
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‘Cynical’ attack
“As Ukrainians wake to the coldest day of the winter so far, the enemy tries to break our spirit with this cynical terrorist attack,” DTEK’s CEO Maxim Timchenko said.
Moscow described its assault as retaliation for Ukraine using U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles to attack a Russian military airfield this week.
The Russian Defence Ministry said air- and sea-based long-range precision weapons and drones had been used against “critical facilities of Ukraine’s fuel and energy infrastructure that support the military-industrial complex”.
Russia says it does not target civilian infrastructure, but that it sees the power system as a military target.
The attack comes as Russian forces notch up their fastest battlefield gains in eastern Ukraine since 2022 in their drive to seize the entire industrial Donbas region.
Trump’s impending return to power has spurred expectations of a push for negotiations to halt the war.
Ukraine has repeatedly said it needs the West to help put it in a stronger position before peace talks begin, a stance reaffirmed by Zelenskiy on Friday.
“Chatter will not stop Putin – we need force that will lead to peace,” he said.
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