The Russian government launched what it announced was a “massive” attack on “critical” energy targets in Ukraine on Christmas Day.
The major drone and missile assault on Kharkiv led to power cuts and outages across Ukraine, including in its capital Kyiv. Ukrainian defense authorities were initially mum on casualty estimates and figures.
“This Christmas terror is [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin’s response to those who spoke about [an] illusionary ‘Christmas ceasefire,’” Andrii Sybiha, the Ukrainian foreign minister, posted to social media website X on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, posted that “Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhuman,” adding: “Every Russian massive strike takes time to prepare. It is never a spontaneous decision. It is a conscious choice not only of targets, but also of time and date.”
On Christmas Day, Russia’s government publicly touted the strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure as a military success.
“This morning, Russia’s Armed Forces carried out a massive strike with long-range precision weapons and strike drones on critical energy infrastructure facilities in Ukraine that ensure the operation of the military-industrial complex,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram. “The strike’s objective was achieved. All facilities were hit.”
The human cost of the attacks was immediately apparent and chilling as those in the invaded nation marked the holiday almost three years into a war. Reuters reports that “half a million people in Kharkiv region were left without heating, in temperatures just a few degrees Celsius above zero, while there were blackouts in the capital Kyiv and elsewhere.”
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