Russia launches Christmas Day assault on Ukraine’s vitality system

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Russia carried out a Christmas Day assault on Ukraine’s vitality system, leaving greater than half 1,000,000 shoppers with out warmth, water or electrical energy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated the assault, the thirteenth large-scale assault in 2024 on the nation’s energy grid, was “deliberate” and never a coincidence. “What may very well be extra inhuman? » he wrote on X.

About 50 of the 70 missiles fired within the assault had been intercepted, in addition to a “important” portion of the greater than 100 assault drones deployed, Zelensky added.

This 12 months, Ukrainians celebrated Christmas on December 25 for the second time, after switching to the Western Gregorian calendar final 12 months. The choice to not rejoice Christmas on January 7 in line with the Orthodox calendar was taken by kyiv to interrupt with Russian affect.

Oleh Syniehubov, governor of Ukraine’s japanese Kharkiv area, advised Ukrainian nationwide tv that the assault had left greater than half 1,000,000 shoppers with out warmth, water or electrical energy.

Temperatures throughout Ukraine are round freezing.

Heating provides had been additionally reduce off in some areas of Ukraine’s Ivano-Frankivsk and Dnipropetrovsk areas within the west and south of the nation.

Ukraine’s vitality community supervisor, Ukrenergo, urged shoppers to restrict their consumption by not turning on a number of home equipment without delay, including that the system was nonetheless recovering from the earlier Russian assault on December 13.

Ukraine’s largest personal vitality firm, DTEK, stated its energy crops had been broken and one in all its longtime staff was killed.

Ukrainian Overseas Minister Andriy Sybiha stated on X that the assault mirrored Russian President Vladimir Putin’s response to “those that had been speaking about an illusory ‘Christmas ceasefire’.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated final week that Zelensky had rejected his proposal for a ceasefire and prisoner trade on the event of Orthodox Christmas on January 7.

Ukraine has denied such a proposal was ever on the desk, asking Hungary to “chorus from any manipulation” relating to the battle. On Friday, Heorhii Tykhyi, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Overseas Ministry, known as it a “public relations transfer” by Orbán.