Ukraine's power grid under 'massive attack' from Russia

Ukraine's power grid under 'massive attack' from Russia as freezing temperatures set in

DARYNA MAYER

More than 700,000 homes and businesses were without power across a frigid Ukraine early Thursday after Russia launched a widespread missile and drone attack on the country’s energy sector.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the “complex strike” was a retaliation for Ukraine’s using American-made ATACMS missiles to strike inside Russia. Despite the widespread civilian impact, he claimed, without evidence, that the assault targeted military sites.

Air raid sirens began to ring out late Wednesday and blared for more than nine hours. People across the country took refuge in bomb shelters, subway stations and even their own bathrooms, waiting out the bombardment alongside strollers, pets and what few blankets they could carry.

The power grid was targeted just as cold weather begins to bite, a tactic that Ukrainian officials and Western analysts say Russia deliberately deploys. The temperature is forecast to stay below 35 degrees Fahrenheit all of Thursday, with fog in the air and snow already covering Kyiv’s roofs.

The physical discomfort of the outages is compounded by the uncertainty of President-elect Donald Trump’s looming inauguration on Jan. 20. His reluctance to commit support for Ukraine brings a huge degree of uncertainty to the conflict, just as Russia is making its fastest battlefield gains since the early days of the 2022 invasion.

It was Russia’s 11th attack on Ukraine’s energy sector this year, officials said. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a “very vile escalation of Russian terrorist tactics.”

Ukraine said it had detected 188 incoming “attack targets,” including 57 cruise missiles fired from Tupolev Tu-95 bombers, 28 Kalibr cruise missiles fired from ships in the Black Sea and 97 Iran-designed Shahed drones, according to a post by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“Again, energy system is under a massive attack from the enemy,” Ukraine’s energy minister, Herman Halushchenko, wrote on social media. “Attacks on energy facilities are taking place all over Ukraine.”

Zelenskyy said the attacks included cluster munitions, which “make it much more difficult for our rescuers and energy workers to eliminate the consequences of the impact.”