On December 19, 2024, as the Russian-Ukrainian war continued, Ukrainian soldiers of the 33rd Brigade operated a Panther main battle tank in the direction of Kulakhov, Ukraine.
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Russia used cruise and ballistic missiles to attack Ukraine’s energy system and cities in its eastern region on Wednesday morning, Ukraine’s energy minister and local officials said.
At least six people were injured in a missile attack in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region on Wednesday morning, the governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, said.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Kharkov was hit by ballistic missiles, and Sinehupov said on the Telegram messaging app that “civilian non-residential infrastructure was damaged.”
In addition, Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said in a telegram: “Since the morning, the Russian army has been conducting a large-scale attack on the Dnipro region. It is trying to destroy the power system in the region.”
Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushenko said on Facebook that Russia was “ongoing a massive attack on the power sector” and that transmission system operators had imposed restrictions on power supply to minimize the impact.
Since spring 2024, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector, damaging nearly half of its power generation capacity and causing blackouts across the country that lasted for hours.
Earlier on Wednesday, Ukraine’s military launched a nationwide air alert in response to Russian cruise missile launches.
DTEK, the country’s largest private energy company, said its power generation facilities were attacked during the strike, causing “severe damage” to electrical equipment.
“This is the 13th large-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy sector this year and the 10th large-scale attack on the company’s energy facilities,” DTEK said on Telegram.
Local authorities and the air force reported missile overflights in the east, center, south and west.
In a large-scale missile attack on November 17, Russia launched 120 missiles and 90 drones, killing at least seven people and causing serious damage to the power system.
DTEK imposed an eight-hour emergency power outage across much of Ukraine at the time.