Russia attacks Ukraine energy network in Christmas assault

Bloomberg News on Dec 25, 2024

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Russia launched a large-scale missile attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, prompting the country’s grid operator to limit power supplies on Christmas Day.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram Wednesday the assault from Moscow included 70 missiles, some of them ballistic, and more than 100 attack drones. Russia separately said it downed 59 Ukrainian drones overnight over several regions.

Ukraine’s power grid operator, Ukrenergo, restricted electricity as a precautionary measure, according to another Telegram post. Energy Minister German Galushchenko said the step was necessary to “minimize the negative consequences for the energy system.”

In the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, 500,000 people have been left without heat, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said, according to RBC Ukraine.

Russian forces have attacked energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine multiple times since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Christmas Day missile barrage followed a Moscow assault five days ago on the Ukraine capital of Kyiv for the first time in almost a month.

The attacks come as both sides await the return to the White House of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to end the war and suggested Zelenskyy should be “prepared to make a deal.”