Russia launched an ‘inhumane’ attack on Christmas Day, Ukraine reported by Reuters

In Pavel Polityuk

KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had “inhumanely” attacked Ukraine’s energy system and some cities with cruise and ballistic missiles and drone strikes on Wednesday on Christmas Day.

The attack, nearly three years into the war, wounded at least six people in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and killed one person in the Dnipropetrovsk region, state officials said.

US President Joe Biden condemned the “heinous” attack and called on the US Defense Department to push for new military aid to Kiev.

Half a million people were left without heating in the Kharkiv region, with sub-zero temperatures, and blackouts in the capital, Kiev, and elsewhere.

“Today (Russian President Vladimir) Putin deliberately chose to attack Christmas. What could be more inhumane than that? More than 70 missiles, ballistic missiles and more than a hundred drones,” he said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has confirmed a “major strike” on vital energy supplies supporting the operation of Kiev’s “military-industrial complex”.

“The aim of the strike has been achieved and all institutions have been hit,” he said in a statement.

The Ukrainian military said its air defenses shot down 59 Russian missiles and 54 drones.

Biden, who will be replaced by Donald Trump next month, said the attack was aimed “to cut off heat and electricity to the people of Ukraine during the winter and endanger the security of the grid.”

Washington has given Ukraine $175 billion in aid. It is uncertain whether the flow will continue at that pace under Trump, who has said he wants to end the war quickly.

Maia Sandhu, the pro-European president of Ukraine’s western neighbor Moldova, said a Russian missile had crossed its airspace during the airstrike.

“While our countries are celebrating Christmas, the Kremlin chose the path of destruction, attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and violating Moldovan airspace,” Sandu wrote on social media.

Moldova has seen several drones landing on its territory and missiles passing through its airspace.

Ukrainians were celebrating the second day of Christmas on Wednesday, according to the new calendar, in another step to eliminate Russian influence.

Most Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians and The Independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine, established in 2018, has agreed to move away from the traditional Julian calendar used in Russia, where Christmas will be celebrated on January 7 in 2023.

Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector since the spring of this year, destroying about half of its generating capacity and causing prolonged outages.

‘Russia embraces winter’

The Ukrainian Air Force said Kharkiv had been hit by ballistic missiles. The head of the region, Oleh Sinyehubov, said in a telegram that there was damage to non-civilian residential infrastructure, without giving further details.

Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhii Lysak said there was a risk of death in an attack on regional power plants.

“Since the morning, the Russian army has launched a heavy attack on the Dnipro region. It is trying to destroy the power system of the region,” he said.

Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said on Facebook (NASDAQ:) that Russia is seriously attacking the energy sector and there are restrictions on the supply of electricity.

Ukraine’s largest private energy company Detek said it was the 13th large-scale attack on power equipment this year.

“We call on all Ukrainian partners to end this state-sponsored terrorism by providing the anti-aircraft munitions needed to protect our armed forces’ vital energy infrastructure,” DTech CEO Maxim Timchenko said in a statement.

“Russia’s Christmas gift to Ukraine: more than 70 missiles and 100 drones, which Ukrainian families celebrate in their homes and keep their energy infrastructure warm,” said US Ambassador Bridget Brink.

“For the third holiday, Russia uses winter.”