Major Russian Drone and Missile Attack on Ukraine Kills at Least 3 People and Cuts Power
Russia fired more than 650 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began at night and extended into daylight hours Tuesday, officials said. At least three people, including a 4-year-old child, were killed two days before Christmas.
The dam has hit homes and power grids in 13 regions of Ukraine, causing widespread outages in severe temperatures, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement a day after calling recent progress on finding a peace deal “pretty solid.”
Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that the bombing showed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention to invade Ukraine. Ukrainian and European officials complain that Putin is not sincerely involved in US-led peace efforts.
Zelenskyy said the attack was “an extremely clear signal of Russia’s priorities.” “A strike before Christmas, when people want to be with their families, at home, safe. In fact, this is a strike in the middle of negotiations to end the war. Putin cannot accept the fact that we have to stop killing.”
US President Donald Trump has been pushing for a peace deal for months, but negotiations have been bogged down by very different demands from Moscow and Kiev.
US envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday he had “productive and constructive” talks with Ukrainian and European representatives in Florida. Trump was less enthusiastic on Monday, saying, “Talks are continuing.”
According to Zelenskyy, initial reports from Ukrainian emergency services said the child died in the Zhytomyr region of northwestern Ukraine, a drone killed a woman in the Kiev region, and another civilian death was recorded in the western Khmelnytskyi region.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 635 unmanned aerial vehicles and 38 missiles of various types. It was stated that air defense stopped 587 drones and 34 missiles.
Acting Minister of Energy Artem Nekraso said that this was the ninth large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy system this year, leaving many regions in the west without electricity and causing emergency power outages across the country. He said efforts to restore power would begin as soon as the security situation allows.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, said the attack targeted thermal power plants and that this was the seventh major attack on the company’s facilities since October.
DTEK’s thermal power plants have been hit more than 220 times since February 2022, when Russia’s all-out invasion began. In these attacks, four workers died and 59 people were injured.
Authorities in the western regions of Rivne, Ternopil and Lviv, as well as in the northern Sumy region, reported damage to energy infrastructure or power outages following the attack.
Russia hit energy, port, transportation, industrial and residential infrastructure in the southern Odessa region, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.
He said a merchant ship and more than 120 houses were damaged.
