Russia Launches Major Attack on Ukraine’s Energy Infrastructure

Russian forces initiated a significant assault targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Ukrainian authorities identified this as the twelfth major attack on such facilities within the current year. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine stated that the assault involved 93 missiles and over 200 drones, with 81 of the missiles successfully intercepted. These strikes focused on locations in western Ukraine, resulting in damage to energy facilities across multiple regions, with some sustaining severe impact. Officials in Ivano-Frankivsk characterized this as the most severe attack experienced by their region to date. Moscow declared the offensive was a retaliation for a Ukrainian strike on a military airbase situated in south-west Russia, which utilized US-made missiles. In an interview with Time magazine conducted on Thursday, coinciding with his recognition as Person of the Year, US President-elect Donald Trump expressed his disagreement “very vehemently” with the use of American-made missiles to target locations within Russia, labeling such actions as “crazy.” He stated, “We’re just escalating this war and making it worse.” The following day, on Friday, the Kremlin indicated that Mr. Trump’s remarks were “fully aligned” with Moscow’s stance. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed reporters, “That impresses us,” adding, “It is obvious that Trump understands exactly what is escalating the situation.” Mr. Trump further conveyed to Time his desire to achieve an accord to conclude the conflict, asserting that the sole method to accomplish this was “not to abandon.” The previous month, US President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to employ US-made ATACMS missiles for striking targets within Russian territory. The initial strikes utilizing these long-range missiles took place the subsequent day, with Russian officials confirming at that time that the Bryansk region, which shares a border with Ukraine, had been impacted. Prior to this, Kyiv had been deploying ATACMS missiles since October 2023, exclusively against Russian-held targets located within Ukrainian territory. Russia’s offensive coincided with the coldest day of the Ukrainian winter to date, experiencing temperatures approximately -6C. In addition to the damage sustained in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, energy and infrastructure facilities also incurred damage in the Lviv and Ternopil regions. Ruslan Kravchenko, the governor of the Kyiv region, reported that no critical or residential infrastructure was struck in his area. Five of the nation’s nine operational nuclear reactor units were functioning at diminished capacity. Consequently, the Ukrenergo National Power Company was compelled to escalate power supply restrictions on Friday, leading to the implementation of rolling blackouts across all regions. Ukrenergo further stated that electricity would be imported from Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, and Moldova throughout Friday. Russia initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Overall, Russia has seized and re-secured approximately 2,350 square kilometers (907 square miles) of land in eastern Ukraine and within Russia’s western Kursk region.