Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Russian Army launched a massive aerial attack on Kyiv on Friday. Herman Halushchenko, the Ukrainian energy minister, accused the Russian Military of targeting the Ukrainian power grid saying, "The enemy continues its terror." The Ukrainian Air Force has reported that Russia used air-launched ballistic Kinzhal missiles against Ukraine’s western regions, adding that multiple strike drones were launched at Ukraine, which was followed by swarms of cruise missiles in the country’s air space.
Notably, Friday’s attack is the latest in a series of such raids that has heightened fears that the Kremlin aims to destroy the country’s power generation capacity as the winter sets in. Since launching its invasion in February 2022, Russia has relentlessly pummeled Ukraine’s electricity system, resulting in repeated shutdowns of critical heating and drinking water supplies during the bitter winter months in an apparent attempt to break Ukrainian spirits and resolve.
Moscow has declared that the attacks are aimed at hobbling Ukraine’s defence industry, thwarting the production of missiles, drones, armoured vehicles and artillery, among other weapons. A similar massive attack on November 28 involved about 200 missiles and drones and left more than a million households without power until emergency teams restored supplies.
Russia is stockpiling cruise and ballistic missiles: Ukraine
Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia is stockpiling cruise and ballistic missiles for more attacks. On November 21, Russia for the first time used an intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile to strike an industrial plant in the city of Dnipro, in eastern Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin described the attack with the Oreshnik missile as retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with longer-range Western weapons. He declared that more attacks with the new weapon could follow.
Russian Defence Ministry claims Ukraine struck its air base
On Wednesday, the Russian Defence Ministry said that Ukraine struck an air base in Taganrog in the southern Rostov region with six US-supplied ATACMS missiles, injuring several soldiers and damaging buildings and a few vehicles. It vowed to strike back.
The Pentagon warned Wednesday that Russia could use its new missile against Ukraine again soon. Around half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been destroyed during the almost three years of war with Russia, and rolling electricity blackouts are widespread. Kyiv’s Western allies have provided Ukraine with air defence systems to help it protect critical infrastructure, but Russia has sought to overwhelm the air defences with combined strikes involving big numbers of missiles and drones.
Russia has held the initiative this year as its military has steadily rammed through Ukrainian defences in the east in a series of slow but steady offensives.
(With inputs from agency)
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