By ILLIA NOVIKOV, Related Press
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched an enormous aerial assault in opposition to Ukraine on Friday, firing 93 cruise and ballistic missiles and nearly 200 drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned, describing it as one of many heaviest bombardments of the nation’s vitality sector since Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly three years in the past.
Ukrainian defenses shot down 81 missiles, together with 11 cruise missiles that have been intercepted by F-16 warplanes offered by Western allies earlier this yr, Zelenskyy mentioned.
Russia is “terrorizing millions of people” with such assaults, he mentioned on his Telegram channel, renewing his plea for worldwide unity in opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“A strong reaction from the world is needed: a massive strike – a massive reaction. This is the only way to stop terror,” Zelenskyy mentioned.
However uncertainty surrounds how the battle would possibly unfold subsequent yr. President-elect Donald Trump, who takes workplace subsequent month, has vowed to finish the battle and has thrown into doubt whether or not important U.S. army help for Kyiv will proceed.
In Moscow, the Protection Ministry mentioned the Russian army used long-range precision missiles and drones on “critically important fuel and energy facilities in Ukraine that ensure the functioning of the military industrial complex.”
On this picture offered by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters work on the positioning of a broken constructing after a Russian drone assault in Chernihiv area, Ukraine, early Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service through AP Photograph)
The strike was in retaliation for Wednesday’s Ukrainian assault utilizing U.S.-supplied the Military Tactical Missile System, or ATACMs, on a Russian air base, it mentioned.
Trump mentioned in an interview revealed in TIME journal on Thursday that he was in opposition to permitting Ukraine to hit targets on Russian soil utilizing U.S. offered weapons.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned Friday that Trump’s stance “conforms to our position.”
“In this case, we have a shared vision of causes of escalation and that is positive. Obviously, Trump realizes what escalates the conflict,” Peskov instructed reporters.
The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv mentioned Friday’s assault additionally focused transport networks and different key services.
Ukraine’s greatest non-public vitality firm, DTEK, mentioned the assault “seriously damaged” its thermal energy crops.
Russia has repeatedly tried to cripple Ukraine’s electrical energy system in an effort to interrupt the desire of civilians left at nighttime with no operating water or heating and to disrupt Ukrainian protection manufacturing.
Ukrainian Power Minister Herman Halushchenko mentioned vitality employees have been doing every thing essential to “minimize negative consequences for the energy system,” promising to launch extra particulars on damages as soon as the safety scenario allowed it.
Ukraine’s air pressure reported a number of strike drones launched at Ukraine in a single day adopted by swarms of cruise missiles within the nation’s air area. It mentioned Russia additionally used air-launched ballistic Kinzhal missiles in opposition to Ukraine’s western areas.
An identical large assault on Nov. 28 concerned about 200 missiles and drones and left greater than one million households with out energy till emergency groups restored provides.
Ukrainian officers have warned that Russia is stockpiling cruise and ballistic missiles for extra assaults.
On Nov. 21, Russia for the primary time used an intermediate vary hypersonic ballistic missile to strike an industrial plant within the metropolis of Dnipro, in jap Ukraine. Putin described the assault with the Oreshnik missile as retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with longer-range Western weapons.
He declared that extra assaults with the brand new weapon may observe, and U.S. officers warned Wednesday that the Oreshnik could possibly be used once more in coming days. There was no rapid signal one was launched in Friday’s assault.
Round half of Ukraine’s vitality infrastructure has been destroyed through the battle, and rolling electrical energy blackouts are frequent and widespread.
Kyiv’s Western allies have offered Ukraine with air protection techniques to assist it defend important infrastructure, however Russia has sought to overwhelm the air defenses with mixed strikes involving massive numbers of missiles and drones known as “swarms.”
Russia has held the initiative this yr as its army has steadily rammed by way of Ukrainian defenses within the east in a collection of sluggish however regular offensives.
