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Kyiv, Dec. 29 (AP) — Russian missiles struck Ukraine Thursday in the biggest wave of attacks in weeks, damaging power stations and other critical infrastructure amid frigid winter weather.
Russia fired 69 missiles at the energy facility and Ukrainian troops shot down 54, Ukrainian military chief Gen. Valery Zarouzhny said.
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Local officials said the attack killed at least two people near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
The attack also wounded at least seven people across the country, although the toll is growing as officials assess the day’s events.
Russia sent explosive drones overnight to selected areas before expanding its barrage with air- and sea-based missiles, Ukraine’s air force said.
The regional government said air strike sirens sounded across the country and the military activated Kyiv’s air defenses.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said the attack damaged 18 residential buildings and 10 critical infrastructure in 10 regions.
Russia has been attacking Ukrainian power and water facilities on an almost weekly basis since October, while its ground forces struggle to hold positions and advance.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned of power outages in the capital, asking people to stockpile water and charge electronic devices.
In the Bortnychi district southeast of Kiev, an explosion destroyed at least one house and broke doors, roofs and windows of several others nearby.
Yana Denysenko walks through broken glass at her grandparents’ home, collecting personal belongings.
Although she did not live there, she arrived immediately after the blast and found her injured mother, sister and 14-year-old niece in an ambulance.
Denysenko hugged her tearful grandmother, Anhelina, who was working when the blast occurred.
“I’m terrified to see this, how many mothers are crying?” Angelina said. “”I want my children to recover. “
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called the attacks “senseless barbarism”.
“There can be no neutrality” in the face of war crimes of this magnitude. Pretending to be ‘neutral’ is tantamount to siding with Russia,” Kuleba tweeted.
After more than 10 months of fierce fighting, Russia and Ukraine are locked in a war of attrition.
The Ukrainian military has reclaimed large swathes of Russian-occupied territory in the country’s northeast and south, and continues to resist Russia’s stubborn attempts to seize all of the industrial Donbass region in the east.
Meanwhile, Moscow has targeted Ukraine’s power plants and other critical infrastructure in a bid to weaken the country’s resolve and force it to negotiate on Russian terms.
However, the time between strikes has increased in recent weeks, leading some commentators to suggest that Russia is trying to limit its missile supply.
The Ukrainian military reported that it had successfully shot down incoming Russian missiles and explosive drones in earlier attacks, but many cities were briefly without power for hours or days.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmikhal said many energy facilities had been damaged in what he said was the 10th major attack on Ukraine.
“Russia is trying to deprive Ukrainians of the light ahead of the new year,” Shmyhal wrote in a Telegram post. Emergency power outages may be required in “certain areas,” he said.
About 90 percent of the city of Lviv is without electricity, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi wrote on Telegram. Streetcars and trolleybuses are out of service, and residents may experience disruption to their water supply, he said.
Much of the southern city of Odessa and nearby areas were without power, Odessa Regional Governor Maxim Marchenko said in a video statement late Thursday. He said Ukrainian air defenses shot down 21 Russian missiles, but some of them hit infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the Telegram channel, which is affiliated with the Press Service of the President of Belarus, said that a Ukrainian S-300 anti-aircraft missile landed on the territory of Belarus early Thursday on the territory of Belarus. It said the missile probably veered off course accidentally and there were no casualties.
The Belarusian Ministry of Defense later said the missile was shot down by Belarusian air defenses in the West Brest region and fell into a field, according to a statement carried by the state Berta news agency.
Belarus, a close Russian ally, served as a staging ground for Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
The Belarusian foreign ministry said it summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to express “strong protest” and demanded that Ukraine “investigate thoroughly” and “hold accountable”.
In this regard, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense stated that Kyiv was “ready to conduct an objective investigation” of the incident and invited “authoritative experts” from abroad to participate in the investigation, warning that these experts should come from countries that do not support Russia.
The United States said this month that it would provide Ukraine with Patriot missile launch pads to bolster the country’s defenses. The U.S. and other allies have also pledged to provide energy-related equipment to help Ukraine defend against attacks on its infrastructure.
Mikhailo Podoliak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Russia was aiming to “destroy critical infrastructure and mass-kill civilians”.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba said on Monday his country wanted to hold a “peaceful” summit at the United Nations within two months, with Secretary-General António Guterres as mediator.
He said Russia must face a war crimes court before his country talks directly to Moscow, but other countries should be free to engage with Russia.
Commenting on the summit proposal on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed it as “nonsense” and “empty,” calling it “Washington’s attempt to cast the Kyiv regime as a peacemaker.” publicity stunt”.
Russian officials say any peace plan can only begin with Kyiv recognizing Russia’s sovereignty over the area it illegally annexed from Ukraine in September.
Zelensky’s 10-point peace plan, first proposed at the Group of 20 summit in Bali in November, includes the full restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops, the release of all prisoners, the establishment of Courts and Ukraine’s security guarantees. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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