At least six individuals have lost their lives as Russia executed numerous missile and drone assaults targeting energy facilities and residential areas in Ukraine during the night.
A strike on a residential building in Dnipro resulted in the deaths of two individuals and left 12 injured, while three fatalities were reported in Zaporizhzhia.
Overall, 25 sites throughout Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, were impacted, causing widespread power and heating outages. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko informed on Telegram that significant energy installations were compromised in the Poltava, Kharkiv, and Kyiv areas, with efforts underway to restore electricity.
In response, the Russian defense ministry announced that its forces had intercepted 79 Ukrainian drones during the night.
The Ukrainian air force indicated that Russia had deployed over 450 explosive drones and 45 missiles. Reports suggest that nine missiles and 406 drones were intercepted.
The Ukrainian Energy Ministry stated that there were outages in the Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhya, Odesa, and Kirovohrad areas, while restoration efforts continued.
Svyrydenko mentioned that essential infrastructure has already been reconnected, and water services are maintained using generators.
Russia contends that its strikes on energy facilities are directed at the Ukrainian military.
Attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure by Russia as winter approaches have become a common occurrence in this conflict. However, officials in Kyiv fear that Moscow aims not only to undermine the morale of the Ukrainian populace but also to cripple its economy by dismantling its energy grid.
Experts believe that this will be a crucial test of Ukraine’s defensive endurance in the fourth winter of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that these assaults demonstrate the necessity for there to be “no exceptions” to Western sanctions on Russian energy as a means to exert pressure on Moscow.
The missile attacks occurred mere hours after the US granted Hungary a one-year exemption from restrictions concerning oil and gas purchases from Russia.
In October, the US effectively blacklisted two major Russian oil companies, warning of sanctions against those who purchase from them.
However, on Friday, during Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s visit to Washington – a close confidant and political ally of Donald Trump – the US president announced an exemption for Budapest.
Zelensky conveyed in a Telegram message that the nighttime assaults indicated that “pressure must be heightened” on Russia.
He asserted that “for every strike by Moscow on energy infrastructure – targeting innocent civilians before winter – there should be a sanctions reaction aimed at all Russian energy, with no exceptions”.
Zelensky expressed that Ukraine anticipated “appropriate decisions from the US, Europe, and the G7”.
Discussions about sanctions can occasionally appear technical or diplomatic. However, for individuals in Ukraine, these matters are profoundly pertinent.
If Russia is permitted to sell its oil to Hungary, it can utilize the profits to produce additional drones and missiles, akin to those it deployed against Ukraine on Friday night.
