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Russia carried out a Christmas Day attack on Ukraine's energy system, leaving more than half a million consumers without heat, water and electricity.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack, the 13th large-scale attack of 2024 on the country's network, was “deliberate” and not a coincidence. “What could be more brutal?” Written on X.
Zelensky added that about 50 of the 70 missiles launched in the attack were intercepted, along with a “significant” portion of the more than 100 attack drones deployed.
This year, Ukrainians celebrated Christmas Day on December 25 for the second time, after switching to the Western Gregorian calendar last year. Kiev took the decision to stop celebrating Christmas on January 7 in line with the Orthodox calendar to break away from Russian influence.
Oleh Sinyhopov, governor of Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region, told Ukrainian national television that the attack left more than half a million consumers without heat, water and electricity.
Temperatures across Ukraine are around the freezing point.
Heating supplies were also cut off in some areas of the Ivano-Frankivsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions of Ukraine, in the west and south of the country.
Ukraine's power grid operator, Ukrynergo, urged consumers to limit consumption by not turning on multiple devices at once, adding that the system was still recovering from the previous Russian attack on December 13.
DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, said its power plants were damaged and one of its long-time employees was killed.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sepha said on Channel X that the attack reflected Russian President Vladimir Putin's response to “those who talked about a fake Christmas ceasefire.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said last week that Zelensky had rejected his proposal for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange on Orthodox Christmas, January 7.
Ukraine denied that such a proposal was on the table, and asked Hungary to “refrain from manipulation” regarding the war. On Friday, Heorhiy Tykhi, spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, called the move a “PR move” by Orban.
