Russian forces fired 76 missiles across Ukraine on Friday striking the capital city of Kyiv in one of the biggest attacks of the war.
Kyiv city’s military administration claimed that 37 of 40 missiles targeted at the capital were intercepted, according to Kyiv military administration. Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko confirmed the explosions in the Holosiiv, Desnyan and Dnipro districts.
The Kyiv city administration said Ukraine’s capital had withstood “one of the biggest rocket attacks” launched by Russian forces since they invaded Ukraine nearly 10 months ago.
Due to the missile attack by the Russians, emergency blackouts were introduced in Kyiv, and there were problems with the water supply. Some districts in Kyiv lost heating as well.
OLEKSANDR GIMANOV, AFP via Getty Images
At least two people were killed and eight injured after a Russian strike hit a residential building in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown. An energy infrastructure facility was completely destroyed in the city as well, according to Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the military administration of the city.
Evgeniy Maloletka, AP
The southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia and its surrounding region were hit by 21 rockets, according to city council secretary Anatoly Kurtev.
In Kharkiv, strikes caused “colossal destruction of infrastructure,” primarily energy facilities, the city mayor Ihor Terekhov reported this on Telegram.
Nine Ukrainian power facilities have been damaged in the strikes, said Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko.
Ukrainian energy operator Ukrenergo said on Friday that more than 50% of the country’s energy capacity was lost due to Russian strikes activating “emergency mode.”
Emergency power outages are being introduced across Ukraine due to Russian missiles damaging energy facilities in several regions of the country, according to a Telegram post by Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the office of the president.
Felipe Dana, AP
Russia has intensified strikes on electricity and water systems in Ukraine since mid-October, increasing the suffering of the population as the temperatures across the country fell below freezing.
These attacks come on the heels of a series of Ukrainian strikes in the Donetsk region on Dec. 15, according to Russian officials, Reuters reports.
USA TODAY has not yet independently verified Ukrainian or Russian claims about the respective strikes.
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