Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) — The Ukrainian capital suffered one of the biggest attacks of the war Friday when invading Russian forces fired dozens of missiles across the country, triggering power cuts, Ukrainian officials said.
Fire from air defense systems and dull explosions combined with the howl of air raid sirens as the bombing targeted critical infrastructure in cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih and Zaporhizhzhia. The head of Ukraine’s armed forces said he intercepted 60 of the 76 missiles. Released.
“My beautiful sun. What am I going to do without you?” Svytlana Andreychuk groans in the arms of Red Cross staff. His sister Olha, one of the other 3 people killed when a missile hit a four-story building in Kryvyi Rih.
“She is so cheerful in life. It’s a beauty. He helped everyone. He gave recommendations to everyone. I love you so much,” Andreychuk said.
In Kyiv, city councillor Ksenia Semenova said 60% of citizens were without power on Friday night and 70% without water. The subway formula fell and is unlikely to be operational again on Saturday, he said.
Russian movements in water and electric power systems have occurred intermittently since mid-October, increasing the suffering of the population as winter approaches. But the Ukrainian military has reported that it has had good fortune shooting down explosive rockets and drones.
Friday’s attacks came after the United States agreed this week to donate a battery of Patriot missiles to Ukraine to bolster the country’s defense. Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned Thursday that the formula and accompanying crews would be a valid target for the Russian military.
The United States also pledged last month to send $53 million worth of energy-related devices to help Ukraine deal with attacks on its infrastructure. John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said Friday that the first tranche of that aid had arrived. in the country.
More than a fraction of the Russian missiles fired Friday were aimed at the Ukrainian capital. The city administration said Kyiv had weathered “one of the largest rocket attacks” it has noticed since Russia invaded Ukraine just about 10 months ago. Ukraine’s air defense was shot down. 37 of the roughly 40 missiles that entered the city’s airspace, and one user was injured, he added.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russian forces fired cruise missiles from the frigate Admiral Makarov in the Black Sea, while Kh-22 cruise missiles were fired from Tu-22M3 long-range bombers over the Sea of Azov and guided missiles fired through tactical aircraft.
In Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s building in central Ukraine, construction pierced by a missile had a huge hole in the upper floors. In addition to the other three people killed, at least thirteen were taken to hospital, said Igor Karelin, a lawmaker. Head of the city’s emergency services.
The rescue with sniffer dogs searched through the rubble for a missing mother and her 18-month-old son.
Also in Kryvyi Rih, nearly six hundred miners were trapped underground due to missile attacks but were later rescued, Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul told state television.
He said “several electrical infrastructure services have been destroyed. “
Public network operator Ukrenergo wrote on Facebook that Friday’s attack “the ninth wave of missiles moves into force installations” and that due to repeated damage, “restoring the source of force would possibly take longer than before. “
Analysts said the Russian moves targeting energy infrastructure were part of an attempt to freeze Ukrainians in submission after battlefield casualties through Russian forces. Experts say this has only strengthened Ukrainians to resist the Russian invasion, while Moscow seeks to buy time for an imaginable offensive in the coming months following the existing stalemate on the battlefield.
Kharkiv Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on Friday 3 movements in critical infrastructure in the city, the second largest in Ukraine. By night, about 55% of the city had its electricity restored.
The southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia and the surrounding region were hit by 21 rockets, city council secretary Anatoly Kurtev said. There have been no initial reports of injuries.
And Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko reported explosions in at least 4 neighborhoods. Many citizens took refuge underground in the subway tunnels.
At the site of an attempted attack in Kyiv, army commanders told The Associated Press that the city’s cellular territorial defense organization shot down a cruise missile with a gun. .
“Almost to hit a missile with a weapon device, but it was done,” said one commander who asked to be known only through the call sign “Hera” for security reasons.
Ukrzaliznytsia, the national railway operator, said the force cut at several stations in the central and eastern regions of Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk. But the trains continued to run after the power source changed to the backup force of the steam engines.
In neighboring Moldova, the state corporate force reported disruptions to its power grid and warned of a “high risk” of power outages. Moldova, whose Soviet-era systems remain interconnected with those of Ukraine, has already suffered two major blackouts in recent months when Russia attacked Ukraine’s network of forces.
The past of major Russian airstrikes in Ukraine was positioned on December 5.
“Grateful for Ukraine’s air defense paintings amid more intense Russian attacks this morning on civilian infrastructure in Kyiv and the country,” U. S. Ambassador to Kyiv Bridget Brink wrote on Twitter.
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