https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/13/russia-launches-huge-attack-on-ukraine-with-dozens-of-cruise-missiles-and-drones
"Russia launched its latest massive aerial attack against Ukraine on Friday
morning, using cruise missiles to target energy infrastructure across the
country, particularly in the western border regions.
Dozens of drones were also used in the attack, which comes as both Moscow and
Kyiv manoeuvre ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January.
Later on Friday, Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov praised Trump,
saying his criticism of Ukrainian strikes inside Russia “impresses us”.
The alignment on the strikes between Trump and the Kremlin will cause alarm in
Ukraine, where there is hope that Trump may prove surprisingly amenable to
continuing US military aid to the country but also fear that his history of
pro-Russian rhetoric could see Kyiv forced to sign an unfavourable deal.
Russia has been systematically targeting Ukraine’s civilian energy
infrastructure in recent months, in a bid to sow chaos in the country ahead of
winter, with temperatures due to drop well below zero in most of Ukraine over
the coming days. Energy minister Herman Halushchenko said energy workers were
doing everything possible to “minimise negative consequences” for the energy
system.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed on Friday morning that Russia had used 93
missiles and over 200 drones in the attack. He said Ukrainian forces had
managed to shoot down 81 of the missiles, including 11 which had been
successfully targeted by F-16 planes. Ukraine’s air force said the Russian
attack included hypersonic Kinzhal missiles launched from the air.
Svitlana Onishchuk, head of the western Ivano-Frankivsk region, said the area
had suffered “the biggest attack since the beginning of the full-scale war”,
from cruise missiles and drones.
“As Ukrainians wake to the coldest day of the winter so far, the enemy tries to
break our spirit with this cynical terrorist attack,” said Maxim Timchenko, CEO
of the private energy company DTEK. “Right now, multiple DTEK teams are
urgently assessing damage to our power stations and deploying all possible
resources to restoring power for the people of Ukraine.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
