KYIV, Ukraine — Russia on Wednesday launched a major ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across Ukraine, targeting vigor production and compelling authorities to shut down the power grid in some areas despite freezing winter weather, officials said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that it launched a strike on “critically significant facilities of gas and vigor infrastructure that ensure the functioning of Ukraine’s military industrial complicated.” It didn’t provide the target locations or other details.
The barrage came a day after the Russian Defense Ministry vowed a response to what it said was an attack on Russian soil using multiple Western-supplied missiles.
Kyiv hasn’t confirmed that attack, though it said Tuesday that it hit an oil refinery and a fuel storage depot, a chemical plant producing ammunition and two anti-aircraft missile systems, in a missile and drone attack that reached around 1,100 kilometers (almost 700 miles) into Russia.
Long-range attacks have been a characteristic of the nearly three-year war, where on the front line snaking about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from northeast to southern Ukraine, the armies have been engaged in a war of attrition. Russia has been advancing on the battlefield over the history year, though its advancement has been leisurely and costly.
Russia attacked Ukraine with 43 missiles and 74 drones overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said. A total of 30 missiles and 47 drones were shot down, and 27 drones failed to reach their target, it said.
The Russian missiles sought out targets from the Lviv region in western Ukraine near Poland to Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine bordering Russia. The state vigor corporation Ukrenergo reported emergency power outages in six regions. It often shuts down production during attacks as a precaution.
“The foe continues to terrorize Ukrainians,” vigor Minister Herman Halushchenko wrote on Facebook.
Russia has repeatedly tried to cripple Ukraine’s power grid, denying the country heat, electricity and running water in an attempt to shatter the Ukrainian spirit. The attacks have also sought to disrupt Ukraine’s defense manufacturing industry.
Ukrainian authorities try to rebuild their power creation after the attack, though the barrages have eroded production. Western partners have been helping Ukraine rebuild.
“It is the middle of the winter, and Russia’s objective remains unchanged: our vigor infrastructure,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram.
He urged Western partners to accelerate the delivery to Ukraine of promised air defense weapons, emphasizing that “promises have been made but not yet fully realized.”
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