The Russian barrage targeted vital infrastructure in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih, and Zaporhizhzhia, among other cities in Ukraine
According to Ukrainian officials, Russian forces fired dozens of missiles across Ukraine on Friday, causing widespread power outages.
As the barrage struck critical infrastructure in cities like Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih, and Zaporizhzhia, it was accompanied by thudding explosions, gunfire from air defense systems, and the wail of air raid sirens.
60 of the 76 launched missiles, according to the head of the Ukrainian armed forces, were intercepted.
Ksenia Semenova, a member of the city council in Kyiv, stated that 70% of the city’s residents did not have access to water or electricity on Friday evening. She stated that the subway system was unavailable and unlikely to reopen on Saturday.
Since the middle of October, Russian attacks on water and electricity systems have been occurring on and off, putting more people in pain as winter approaches.
However, the Ukrainian military has said that it is shooting down incoming rockets and explosive drones with increasing success.
The attacks on Friday occurred after the United States of America agreed this week to provide Ukraine with a Patriot missile battery to enhance its defenses.
The sophisticated system and any crews accompanying it would be a legitimate target for the Russian military, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned on Thursday.
Additionally, the United States pledged last month to send $53 million in energy-related equipment to Ukraine to assist it in surviving the attacks on its infrastructure.
The White House National Security Council’s spokesman, John Kirby, announced on Friday that the nation had received the initial installment of that aid.
The greater part the Russian rockets terminated on Friday was focused on Ukraine’s capital. Kyiv was able to withstand “one of the biggest rocket attacks” since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly ten months ago, according to the city administration.
According to the report, Ukrainian air defences shot down 37 of the approximately 40 missiles that entered the city’s airspace and injured one person.
The apartment building that was hit by a missile in Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and located in the center of Ukraine, had a large hole in the upper floors.
Alongside the three individuals killed, something like 13 were taken to the medical clinic, said Igor Karelin, the delegate top of the city’s crisis administrations.
Through the rubble, search teams with sniffer dogs looked for a mother and her 18-month-old child who had gone missing.
Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul stated on state television that nearly 600 miners in Kryvyi Rih were trapped underground as a result of the missile attacks. However, they were eventually rescued.
He stated, “Several energy infrastructure facilities were completely destroyed.”
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According to analysts, the Russian bombardment of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is part of an effort to force Ukrainians into submission following Russian losses on the battlefield.
According to experts, this has only strengthened the Ukrainian people’s resolve to resist Russia’s invasion, as Moscow attempts to delay an offensive in the coming months due to the current battlefield impasse.
