Russia on Friday continued its major winter strategy to hit Ukraine's power grid for the third year in a row, as freezing conditions ease ahead of the winter season, dealing a “huge blow” to the country's largest energy company.
Russian forces launched around 90 missiles, including cruise missiles, and 200 drones in the largest attack on Ukraine's power grid, targeting power plants in the Lviv, Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk regions of western Ukraine. Ta. Kiev Independent reported.
The severity of the attack is not yet known, but at least half of Ternopuri region lost power and equipment was reportedly “damaged” by private energy company DTEK.
Residents take shelter in a subway station after a Russian missile and drone attack in Kiev, Ukraine, on Friday. (Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
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“This is already the 12th large-scale attack on the Ukrainian energy industry and the 9th large-scale attack on the company's energy companies this year,” he said. the company said in a Telegram post.It noted that no casualties were reported. “Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, DTEK power plants have been bombarded more than 200 times in total.”
The mass attack follows reports this week suggesting that Russia may be planning another attack on Ukraine using its latest ballistic missile, the Oleshnik missile (which it first launched last month). It was received and carried out.
A US National Security Council official said in a report on Friday that an attack could occur “as early as this weekend.” Financial Times coverage.
Similarly, an official told Reuters earlier this week: “Oleshnik is not a game-changer on the battlefield, but rather is simply another attempt by Russia to launch a terrorist attack on Ukraine, which we believe will fail.” I'm doing it,” he said.
The threat of a new large-scale attack comes as Russian forces are making gradual advances in Donetsk, near the town of Pokrovsk, potentially giving Moscow access to supply routes linking the region to Zaporizhia. is occurring within. This was reported by the Estonian intelligence service. on friday.
A locomotive passes under a destroyed bridge on a badly damaged railroad track in Pokrovsk, Ukraine, on November 16. (Kostiantin Liberov/Rivkos/Getty Images)
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According to open source data presented by Colonel Antu Kiviserg, head of the Estonian Defense Forces (EDE), Ukrainian forces also managed to repel a Russian attack on Krahov, a town in Dontescu, about 55 miles south of Pokrovsk. There is. Russian troops are trying to surround the town.
“Russian occupation forces are bringing forward all available forces and are trying to break through the defenses of our armed forces,” General Oleksandr Shirushkyi, the commander of Ukraine's military, said in a Facebook post late Wednesday.
Pokrovsk remains a key Ukrainian defense position in Donetsk, and its fall would not only undermine Kiev's access to supply routes, but also its ability to continue fending off Russian attempts to seize the entire region.
The growing sense of crisis that Ukraine is feeling in Donetsk coincides with concerns about whether the United States will continue to support Ukraine as the Trump administration is set to take office at the end of January.
President-elect Trump has not said whether he will maintain the continued level of US aid to Ukraine, and in an interview with Time magazine published on Thursday, he said that Kiev would not allow the United States to attack targets in Ukraine. criticized the use of ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) supplied by the US Army. Russia.
President Trump said of the Ukraine war: “Anything can happen. Anything can happen. It's a very volatile situation.” “I think the most dangerous thing right now is what's happening where.” [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] President Zelenskiy presumably decided, with the following approval: [President Biden]begins firing missiles at Russia. I think that's a big escalation. I think that's a stupid decision. ”
On Thursday, Ukrainian soldiers were seen carrying assault rifles during a training exercise against Russian sabotage groups in Ukraine's Chernihiv Oblast. (Maksim Kishka/Suspirin Ukraine/JSC “UA:PBC”/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
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In November, Biden abandoned his longstanding opposition to using U.S.-supplied missiles in Ukraine to attack Russian military targets, following a long-standing plea from Kiev.
Mr. Zelensky, along with other U.S. security experts, said Ukraine should be able to attack Russia amid years of deadly aggression, and that he should be able to launch a large-scale missile and drone campaign targeting Ukrainian civilians. It has argued that attacking used weapons depots and Russian military positions is critical to Ukraine's turnaround. The flow of war.
