Status: 12/16/2022 10:52 a.m
Russia repeatedly attacks infrastructure in Ukraine. The failure of electricity and heating is said to have broken the Ukrainians’ will to resist. In the morning a new, massive wave of attacks began.
According to Ukrainian sources, Russia has launched a new wave of missile attacks. Explosions were reported from the capital Kyiv and from Kharkiv, the second largest city in the country. It is located in eastern Ukraine, near the border with Russia.
There were also attacks in the Black Sea region of Odessa in the south of the country, as well as in Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, Poltava and Dnepropetrovsk. In the south-eastern Ukrainian industrial city of Kryvyi Rih, authorities said two people were killed as a result of the rocket attacks and five were injured when a house was hit.
Sirens warned of airstrikes across the country. “Don’t ignore the air alert, stay in the shelters,” Kyrylo Tymoshenko, Deputy Head of the Office of the President, urged the population via Telegram.
Kharkiv region completely without electricity
The target of the attacks was apparently the critical infrastructure – such as the power supply. According to the energy supplier Oblenergo, the Kharkiv region is currently completely without electricity. Power outages are also reported from other cities.
The presidential administration announced that the nationwide switch to emergency supply in the energy sector. She called for understanding from people who often sit in the cold and darkness. There are places of protection and warmth in the country where they could go. Emergency services would also work to repair the hit and damaged power plants.
The subway and its entrances are used as air raid shelters during rocket attacks.
Image: dpa
People seek shelter in the subway
Light, water and heating also failed in Kyiv, as a reporter from the dpa news agency reports. The subway stopped operating. As in many Eastern European cities, it runs very deep underground in many places and is used as a bunker during attacks. Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed the attacks in the Telegram news service and called on people to seek protection.
The will to resist should be broken
Since October, the Russian military has attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in several waves. This led to power outages across the country. The attacks are seen as part of a new Russian strategy following setbacks on the battlefield in recent months. Apparently, they are intended to leave the Ukrainians defenseless in the winter cold, thereby breaking their will to resist.
The current wave of attacks appears to be the most violent since October. Media reported about 70 rocket attacks on Ukraine.
Attacks also in occupied territory
There are also reports of rocket fire from the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. In the town of Lantrativka in the Luhansk region, eight people are said to have been killed by fire from the Ukrainian side. This was reported by the Russian state news agency Tass, according to local rescue services.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
New offensive on Kyiv?
The Ukrainian military leadership apparently expects Russia to change tactics again in January. Generals Valery Zalushniy and Oleksandr Syrskyy said in interviews with the English business magazine “The Economist” that there could be a new offensive, as part of which a second attempt to capture the capital Kyiv was planned.
“The Russians are preparing about 200,000 soldiers for deployment. I have no doubt that they are targeting Kyiv again,” Zalushniy magazine quoted as saying. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov made a similar statement to The Guardian newspaper. There is increasing evidence that Russia is preparing a new offensive. It could be planned for February, when half of the 300,000 men drafted as part of the partial mobilization had completed their training.