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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, Ukrainian officials said, reporting movements in at least four locations that prompted widespread emergency blackouts.
The firing of air defense systems and dull explosions combined with the howl of air raid sirens as the bombing of critical infrastructure in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih and Zaporhizhzhia. The head of the country’s armed forces said Ukrainian forces intercepted 60 of the 76 missiles launched.
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 attack came after the United States agreed this week to give Ukraine a battery of Patriot missiles to further 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.
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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. Ukrainian air defense forces shot down 37 of the “about 40” that entered the city’s airspace, and one user wounded, 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 tactical aircraft fired guided missiles.
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 pistol device, however, it was done,” said one commander using the call sign “Hera. “
Another commander, an army post chief named “Yevhen,” said the gunner who intercepted the missile “reacted quickly” and fired, and green sparks shot out of the rocket as it began to spin and fall to the ground.
None of the commanders gave their full names, citing security reasons.
Electricity and water installations were disrupted in parts of the country, adding Ukraine’s capital and the largest city at the time, Kharkiv. Thousands of others sought safe haven in deep underground subway stations after the bombing.
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The operator of the public network Ukrenergo wrote on Facebook that emergency cuts had been activated across the country. Priority will be given in restoring power to critical infrastructure, adding hospitals, water source services, heating services and wastewater treatment plants, he said.
Friday’s attack “the ninth wave of missiles moves in the force’s facilities,” Ukraergo said, and because of repeated damage, “restoring force would possibly take longer than before. “
Analysts said Russian moves in energy infrastructure were part of a new strategy to freeze Ukrainians in submission after recent battlefield casualties through Russian forces. Officials and experts say this has only strengthened Ukrainians to deal with the Russian invasion, as Moscow seeks to buy time for an imaginable offensive in the coming months following the existing stalemate on the battlefield.
In Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a missile hit a four-story residential building and left a hole in the upper floors, with debris falling to the ground. Two other people died and at least thirteen others were taken to hospital, said Igor Karelin, the city’s deputy emergency chief.
Rescue groups with sniffer dogs combed the rubble for a missing mother and her 18-month-old son. Karelin said the search was precarious because of the threat that debris still hanging from the construction could fall.
The southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia and the surrounding region were hit by 21 rockets, city council secretary Anatoly Kurtev said. The lights went out in some areas, but there were no initial reports of injuries, he wrote on Telegram.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram that the city has no electricity. The regional governor of Kharkiv, Oleh Syniehubov, reported 3 movements in the critical infrastructure of the city. Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko reported explosions in at least 4 districts and suggested citizens move to shelters.
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“The attack on the capital continues,” he wrote on the social media app. The subway in the capital was suspended, he said, as citizens flocked to its tunnels to seek shelter.
Ukrzaliznytsia, the national railway operator, said power was cut at several stations in the central and eastern regions of Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk, due to damage to the force’s infrastructure. But the trains continued to run through the change of electric force. to the steam force, which had been ready as a backup.
In neighboring Moldova, state-owned force company Moldelectrica reported disruptions to its force network in the wake of Russian moves in Ukraine and warned of a “high risk” of power cuts.
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 power grid.
The past major Russian airstrikes across the country took place on December 5. The Ukrainian government has reported some successes in intercepting and shooting down armed missiles, rockets and drones in recent weeks, adding Friday.
“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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