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Kiev:
Russia has launched a “massive attack” on Ukraine’s energy sector, a Ukrainian minister said on Wednesday, without specifying which cities were under fire. Russian cruise missiles and ballistic missiles also hit several residential areas in the Ukrainian cities of Kryvy Rih and Kharkiv, with reports indicating the attacks killed several people.
Air raid sirens sounded over Ukraine on Wednesday morning, with the air force reporting that Russia had launched Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea.
Energy sector under attack
“The enemy is once again attacking the energy sector en masse,” Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on the social media platform Telegram.
Ukraine faces the worst winter of the nearly three-year war as Moscow steps up its aerial bombardments and forces advance to the front lines in the east.
“The transmission system operator shall take the necessary measures to limit consumption and minimize negative impacts on the energy system,” he added.
Attacks on cities
A ballistic missile also struck an apartment building in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Tuesday, killing one person and wounding 15, four of them seriously. “The monsters made a direct hit on a four-storey residential block with 32 apartments,” the head of the city’s military administration, Oleksandr Vilkul, wrote on Telegram.
One man whose body was recovered from the rubble could not be revived by medics, regional governor Serhiy Lysak said.
Kryvy Rih, a steel city with more than 600,000 inhabitants before the war, is the birthplace of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The city of Kharkiv was also hit by a “massive rocket attack”, Mayor Igor Terekhov said on Wednesday morning. “Kharkov is hit by a massive rocket attack. A series of explosions were heard in the city and ballistic missiles are still heading towards the city,” he wrote on Telegram.
The regional governor counted seven Russian attacks. At least three people were injured in a rocket attack on Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine on Wednesday morning, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
The regional governor counted seven Russian attacks and said casualties were still being assessed.
Attacking Christmas
“While other countries of the world celebrate Christmas, Ukrainians continue to suffer from endless Russian attacks,” Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets wrote on Telegram.
Russia has accelerated its advance through eastern Ukraine in recent months, hoping to secure as much territory as possible before newly-elected US President Donald Trump takes power in January. The Republican leader has pledged to quickly end the nearly three-year conflict, without proposing concrete terms for a ceasefire or peace deal.
Moscow’s military claims to have seized more than 190 Ukrainian settlements this year, with Kiev struggling to hold the line due to manpower and ammunition shortages.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that its forces had shot down 59 Ukrainian drones overnight, while the Ukrainian air force reported the launch of Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea, although it was not initially clear where they went.