Russia unleashed a missile and drone barrage on Ukraine’s power grid Wednesday forcing locals to scramble for cover on Christmas – as President Volodymyr Zelensky blasted the “inhumane” holiday attack.
Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following a Russian missile attack on the country’s energy system in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. AP
A firefighter works at the site of residential buildings hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine December 25, 2024. REUTERSUkrainians sheltered in metro stations Christmas morning after Russia launched 78 missiles from the air, ground and sea, which struck a thermal power plant.
The broadside left half a million people in Kharkiv – Ukraine’s second-biggest city – without heat in temperatures just above freezing, and caused widespread blackouts in the country’s capital Kyiv and elsewhere, Reuters reported.
The attack, which targeted Ukraine’s fuel and energy sources, also included 106 Shaheds drones and other drones, according to Ukraine’s air force which said it intercepted 59 missiles, 54 drones and jammed another 52 drones.
People take shelter at a metro station during an air raid alert, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 25, 2024. REUTERS
Zelensky blasted Putin for cruelly choosing Christmas day for the strikes.
“Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhumane?” Zelensky wrote in a post on X. “They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine.”
With Post wires
