Doubling down on its efforts to use winter as a weapon, Russia launched its fiercest attack in weeks Thursday, battering Ukrainian power and water infrastructure amid freezing temperatures.
The widespread assault, described by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba as "senseless barbarism,'' featured a barrage of missiles and exploding drones. At least two people were killed near the northeastern city of Kharkiv, and at least seven were wounded across the country, according to preliminary assessments.
Ukrainian military chief Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi said his forces shot down 54 of 69 missiles targeting energy facilities, but 10 pieces of critical infrastructure in 10 regions and 18 residential buildings were still damaged, authorities said. About 90% of Lviv, a western city far from the front lines, was left without electricity, its mayor said.
“Russia is trying to deprive Ukrainians of light before the New Year,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote in a Telegram post, adding that emergency blackouts may be necessary “in some areas.”
With Russian ground forces struggling to hold ground and advance, Moscow has attacked Ukrainian power and water supplies almost weekly since October, trying to weaken the country’s resolve and force it to negotiate a settlement on the Kremlin's terms.
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Other developments:
►The U.K. will contribute nearly $2.8 billion in assistance to Ukraine in 2023, said Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, who told The Guardian his country is also providing military expertise to help Ukraine improve its air defenses and prevail on the ground.
►Two days after reaffirming Italy's full support on a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told reporters: "I hope that sooner or later Russia realizes the enormous error it is making. Until then, we’ll defend Ukraine.''
Zelenskyy: Russia will eventually pay for power outages, other misdeeds
In his nightly video address to the nation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said most regions of Ukraine were experiencing power outages because of the latest Russian assault, especially Kyiv and the area around it, in addition to Lviv, Odesa, Kherson and other provinces.
He also pointed out the blackouts had not kept his office or the cabinet of ministers from fulfilling their duties.
"We are working to ensure that our defenders have more opportunities, more weapons, more drones,'' Zelenskyy said.
He vowed that Ukrainians would drive away the invaders and that Russia would eventually be punished in court for all the misery it has imposed on its neighbor.
"Each missile only confirms that all this must end with a tribunal,'' Zelenskyy said. "And that is exactly what will happen.''
Ukrainian missile lands in Belarus, drawing 'strong protest'
Belarus’ foreign ministry lodged a “strong protest” with Ukraine after one of its air defense missiles landed in Belarusian territory early Thursday, probably by accident.
The ministry later said the missile was downed by the country's air defenses over the western Brest region and fell onto a field. There were no reports of casualties.
Belarus is a close ally of Russia and was a staging ground for the Kremlin's invasion on Feb. 24.
The incident bears some similarities to another recent instance of a misguided projectile crossing into another country. In mid-November, what appeared to be a Russian missile killed two people when it landed in Poland, raising fears the NATO-affiliated country may have been attacked. After further study, Polish authorities said the missile was probably fired by Ukrainian air defenses and ended up in Poland by accident.
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Russia unveils new warships as Putin tries to boost navy
Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw the commissioning of new warships Thursday as part of his plan to boost the country’s navy, which in April sustained the embarrassing loss of the Moskva missile cruiser. The new vessels included a corvette, a minesweeper and the nuclear submarine Generalissimus Suvorov.
“We will speed up and increase the volumes of construction of ships of various projects, equip them with the most modern weapons and conduct the operational and combat training using the experience received during the special military operation,” Putin said, employing his preferred term for Russia’s 10-month-old war in Ukraine.
The Moskva, named after the Russian capital and the flagship of the country's Black Sea fleet, was sunk by what Ukraine said were its anti-ship missiles. The Kremlin claimed that a fire that ignited munitions was the reason the ship went down.
Contributing: The Associated Press
