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Russia has carried out a Christmas Day assault on Ukraine’s vitality system, leaving greater than half one million folks with out heating, water and electrical energy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned the assault, the thirteenth large-scale assault of 2024 on the nation’s grid, was “deliberate” and never a coincidence. “What could possibly be extra inhuman?” he wrote on X.
About 50 of the 70 missiles fired within the assault have been intercepted, together with a “vital” portion of the greater than 100 assault drones deployed, he added.
Oleh Syniehubov, governor of Ukraine’s japanese Kharkiv area, instructed Ukraine’s nationwide tv information that the assault had left greater than 500,000 folks with out heating, water and electrical energy.
In a press release launched by the White Home, US President Joe Biden mentioned: “The Ukrainian folks should stay in peace and security, and the US and the worldwide neighborhood should proceed to face with Ukraine till it triumphs over Russia’s aggression.”
Biden added that he had directed the Division of Protection “to proceed its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine”.
Heating provides have been additionally reduce in some areas of Ukraine’s Ivano-Frankivsk and Dnipropetrovsk areas, within the west and south of the nation. Temperatures throughout Ukraine are round freezing level.
Ukraine’s vitality grid operator, Ukrenergo, urged shoppers to restrict consumption by not switching on a number of home equipment directly, including that the system was nonetheless recovering from the earlier Russian assault on December 13.
Ukraine’s largest personal vitality firm, DTEK, mentioned that its energy stations had been broken and one in every of its long-term staff killed.
Ukraine’s overseas minister, Andriy Sybiha, mentioned on X that the assault displays Russian President Vladimir Putin’s response to “those that spoke about illusionary ‘Christmas ceasefire’”.
This 12 months Ukrainians marked Christmas Day on December 25 for the second time, after switching to the western Gregorian calendar final 12 months. The choice to cease celebrating Christmas on January 7 in step with the Orthodox calendar was made by Kyiv to interrupt with Russian affect.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán mentioned final week that Zelenskyy had rejected his proposal for a ceasefire and prisoner alternate on the January 7 Orthodox Christmas.
Ukraine denied that such a proposal was ever on the desk, asking Hungary to “chorus from manipulations” concerning the conflict. On Friday, Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for Ukraine’s overseas ministry, described it as “PR, a transfer” by Orbán.
