Russia damages Ukrainian energy facilities in attacks Zelenskyy calls ‘inhumane’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Russian forces attacked his country with more than 70 missiles and that targets included Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

“Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhumane?” Zelenskyy said.

U.S. President Joe Biden condemned the attacks later Wednesday.

“The purpose of this outrageous attack was to cut off the Ukrainian people’s access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardize the safety of its grid. Let me be clear: the Ukrainian people deserve to live in peace and safety,” Biden said in a statement.

The United States, Biden said, “has provided Ukraine with hundreds of air defense missiles, and more are on the way. I have directed the Department of Defense to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s military said it shot down 59 of the missiles, as well as 54 of the 106 drones Russia used in its attacks. The drones and missiles targeted energy facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Poltava and Zaporizhzhia regions, the Ukrainian air force said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement it struck critical energy infrastructure facilities that support Ukraine’s military.

In northeastern Ukraine, Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said the city came under a “massive missile attack” and was later hit with a Russian drone.

Oleh Syniehubov, the regional governor, said the attacks damaged civilian infrastructure and injured at least six people.

Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, said Russian missiles caused “serious damage” and forced power cuts in Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Kyiv.

“In an attack aimed at millions of Ukrainians simply wanting to celebrate the holy day, Russia caused serious damage to DTEK thermal generation facilities,” the company said in a statement.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses destroyed 58 Ukrainian aerial drones, a number that is higher than typical in the daily exchange of drone attacks between the two sides.

The ministry said 26 of the intercepts took place over the Belgorod region and 23 over Voronezh, with other drones being shot down over Kursk, Bryansk, Tambov and the Sea of Azov.

Officials in Kursk said Ukrainian shelling in the region killed at least three people.

Voronezh Governor Aleksandr Gusev said on Telegram that the Ukrainian attacks damaged several houses and a power line.

Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters./VOA/