Moscow launches massive attack on energy infrastructure

Russia has launched a massive attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, which authorities said was the 12th large-scale attack on energy facilities this year.

93 missiles and more than 200 drones were used, but 81 of them were shot down, according to President Volodomyr Zelensky.

The attacks targeted locations in western Ukraine, and energy facilities in several regions have been damaged, some of them severely. Authorities in Ivano-Frankivsk said it was the worst attack in the region so far.

Russia said the attack was in response to a Ukrainian attack on a military air base in southwestern Russia using U.S.-made missiles, which U.S. President-elect Donald Trump described as “insane.”

In an interview with Time magazine on Thursday, To mark his nomination as Person of the Year, Trump said he disagreed “very vehemently” with U.S.-made missiles targeting sites in Russia.

“We are simply escalating this war and making it worse,” he said.

On Friday, the Kremlin said Trump’s comments were “fully aligned” with Moscow’s position.

“This impresses us,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “It’s obvious that Trump understands exactly what is aggravating the situation.”

Trump also told Time that he wanted to reach a deal to end the war and that the only way to do that was “not to quit.”

Russia’s retaliatory strikes came on the coldest day of the Ukrainian winter so far, with temperatures around -6°C.

In addition to the damage caused in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, energy and infrastructure facilities in the Lviv and Ternopil regions were also damaged.

According to Governor Ruslan Kravchenko, no critical or residential infrastructure was affected in the kyiv region.

Five of the country’s nine operating nuclear reactors have been operating at reduced power.

As a result of the attack, the Ukrenergo National Power Company had to increase power supply restrictions on Friday, introducing rolling blackouts in all regions.

Ukrenergo added that during the day on Friday electricity will be imported from Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova.