The Russian government launched what it declared a “massive” attack on “critical” energy targets in Ukraine on Christmas Day.
The major drone and missile attack on Kharkiv led to power outages and outages throughout Ukraine, including in the capital Kiev. Ukrainian defense authorities were initially cautious about casualty estimates and figures.
“This Christmas terror is [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin’s answer to those who talked about it [an] illusory ‘Christmas ceasefire’,” Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister, posted on social media website X on Wednesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote: “Putin deliberately chose Christmas as an attack. What could be more inhumane,” he adds: “Any Russian mass attack takes time to prepare. It is never a spontaneous decision. It is not only a conscious choice of objectives, but also of time and date.”
On Christmas Day, the Russian government publicly called the attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure a military success.
“This morning, the Russian armed forces carried out a massive attack with long-range precision weapons and drones on critical energy infrastructure facilities in Ukraine that ensure the operation of the military-industrial complex,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in Telegram. “The purpose of the strike was achieved. All facilities have been affected.”
The human consequences of the attacks were immediately apparent and chilling, as people in the invaded country celebrated the anniversary of nearly three years of war. Reuters reports that “half a million people in the Kharkiv region were left without heating, in temperatures just a few degrees Celsius above zero, while there were power outages in the capital Kiev and elsewhere.”
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