Kyiv – Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine’s energy sector on Friday, forcing an emergency power outage as temperatures plunged to freezing across the country. Ukraine’s energy network has been heavily targeted since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of “terror” tactics by trying to plunge Ukrainian cities into darkness and cut off heating for civilians throughout the winter.
The overnight attack comes after two weeks of dramatic escalation that saw both sides deploying new weapons to gain the upper hand. before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump in January.
Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko said power infrastructure was “under heavy enemy attack” after a nationwide air alert was issued for incoming missiles.
Alina Smutko / REUTERS
The air force reported Russian cruise missiles and drone strikes hitting cities across the country, including the capital Kyiv, Kharkiv in the northeast and the Black Sea port city of Odesa.
“Ukraine’s energy sector is under the attack of a great enemy”
“Once again, the energy sector is under massive enemy attack. Attacks on energy facilities are taking place across Ukraine,” said Galushchenko.
National power grid operator Ukrenergo “soon introduced an emergency power cut,” he said, as temperatures dropped to 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Energy provider DTEK said Ukrenergo introduced emergency power cuts in Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro and Donetsk regions.
Officials warned residents in several cities to stay in shelters, with the air alert still in place.
“As soon as the security situation will allow, the consequences (of the attack) will be determined,” Galushchenko said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff said the wave of attacks showed Russia was “continuing its terror tactics.”
“They are saving missiles for attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, for war against civilians in the … future,” Andriy Yermak said in a post on Telegram, promising that Ukraine would respond.
A senior United Nations official, Rosemary DiCarlo, warned this month that Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure could make this winter “the most violent since the beginning of the war.”
Russia-Ukraine war escalates with new weapons
Russia earlier this week said it was preparing its own retaliation for Ukrainian attacks in the region using US-supplied ATACMS missiles.
Ukraine has launched at least three strikes on Russian territory with long-range missiles since the White House gave permission to fire deeper into Russia.
Moscow responded to the first attack by firing ballistic missiles that have never been seen before in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. In an angry address to the country, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that nuclear-capable, intermediate-range, multiple-warhead missiles could be used against Western countries if they allow Ukraine to use its hand to attack Russia.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Friday that it had downed 25 Ukrainian drones fired overnight, including 14 over the southern Krasnodar region – just east of the annexed Crimean peninsula.
Krasnodar’s governor said a woman was injured in the rubble in the town of Slavyansk-on-Kuban, about 60 miles east of the Kerch bridge – a giant infrastructure project linking Crimea to Russia that Kyiv targeted during the war.
Trump taps retired general to lead on Ukraine, Russia policy
The latest salvo of missiles came a day after Trump named loyalist and retired general Keith Kellogg as Ukraine’s envoy, charged with stopping the Russian invasion.
Trump campaigned on a platform to quickly secure the war in Ukraine, boasting that he would quickly mediate a ceasefire – a comment that has sparked concern in Kyiv that the US will push it to cede land occupied by Russian forces.
Kellog, an 80-year-old national security veteran, co-authored a paper this year that called on Washington to use military aid as a means to push for peace talks.
The outgoing Biden administration has called for Ukraine to drop the mandatory minimum age to 18 to ease labor shortages on the 600-mile front line.
Russian forces have been advancing in the east for months, where they have manpower and ammunition advantages against Ukrainian forces.
