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Moscow again struck Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, part of an effort to wear down the country. “In the trenches, there are no holidays,” one man said.
By Marc Santora and Liubov Sholudko
Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine
Dec. 25, 2024, 9:47 a.m. ET
Air-raid alarms and explosions sounded on Christmas Day in Ukraine as Russian missiles and drones targeted the nation’s energy infrastructure.
“Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack,” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in a statement. “What could be more inhuman?”
Before dawn on Wednesday, Russia directed more than 70 cruise and ballistic missiles and 100 strike drones, Ukrainian officials said. As rescue workers and energy repair crews raced to assess the damage in the morning, alarms sounded again and more missiles streaked through the skies. At least six people were wounded in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, and one person was killed in Dnipro, but officials said that the toll from strikes around the country may rise.
The Ukrainian military said air defense teams shot down 59 missiles and either shot down or disabled most of the drones used in the attack. Ukraine’s largest private energy company said the attacks caused serious damage to equipment emergency, and power outages were declared across the country.
It was the 13th large-scale bombardment of the Ukrainian energy grid this year in a campaign that has left the country’s energy network devastated and forced the authorities to turn to unconventional measures to try to prevent a total collapse of the grid.
Ukrainians are exhausted by years of bombardments and mourning the loss of tens of thousands fighting on the front. Instead of getting a reprieve this Christmas, many Ukrainians were huddled in bomb shelters, not celebrating with friends and family.
