Topline
Russia has launched a massive wave of missile attacks across Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said on Friday, forcing civilians to seek shelter and knocking out power, water supplies and critical infrastructure as Moscow reportedly prepares for a major offensive in the new year.
Civilians take shelter inside a metro station during an air raid alert in Kyiv.
Key Facts
Russia has been “massively attacking” Ukraine with missile strikes on Friday, said the governor of Kyiv’s regional military administration, Oleksiy Kuleba, on Telegram.
The strikes have reportedly hit regions across the country, including Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv, and appear to have targeted energy facilities and other critical infrastructure.
The salvo has reportedly triggered power outages across the country, including Kyiv, and Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, where temperatures hovered at or below freezing temperatures, is reportedly entirely without electricity.
Nine Ukrainian power facilities have been damaged in the strikes, said energy minister German Galushchenko, and Ukraine’s national energy company said more than half of consumers have been affected by the strikes, according to Al Jazeera and the BBC.
Officials and media outlets reported explosions in the capital city of Kyiv and mayor Vitaly Kitschko said water supplies had been disrupted in all of the city’s districts and advised residents to stock up.
It is not yet clear how many died or were injured in the attack, though two people were killed and at least five wounded in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on social media, claiming a Russian missile had hit a residential building.
Key Background
Russia has been battering Ukrainian energy facilities since October after suffering a series of stinging military defeats. Human rights groups, Kyiv and Western allies say deliberate attacks on civilian power installations amount to war crimes. The ensuing blackouts have left much of the country without heat, power or water as Ukraine’s harsh winter rolls in. Moscow’s latest barrage comes amid reports it is preparing to launch a major new ground offensive in the new year and possibly an attempt to take Kyiv. Ukrainian General Valery Zaluzhny told the Economist this could come as soon as January.
What To Watch For
Putin is set to travel to Minsk and meet Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Monday, the Kremlin said in a statement on Friday. The possibility of Belarus entering the war alongside Russia has been an active question throughout the war. Belarus is a close ally of Russia and has aided Moscow in its war effort—including allowing it to use its territory to stage the invasion of Ukraine in February—but has resisted pressure to join the war on a more formal footing.
Further Reading
An interview with Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine (Economist)
‘We are Ukrainians. We’re strong’: morale the key in Kyiv as winter sets in (Guardian)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/12/16/russia-launches-massive-attack-9-ukraine-power-stations-damaged/