Russia Launches Missiles Drones At Ukraine

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

MOSCOW/KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Russia launched missiles and drones at Ukrainian energy facilities on Wednesday, one day after Kyiv claimed it carried out its most significant aerial attack of the war on Russian army factories and energy hubs hundreds of kilometers (miles) from the frontline.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, said: “Another massive Russian attack. It is the middle of winter, and the target for the Russians remains the same: our energy sector.”

The Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 30 of the missiles and 47 drones, while the prime minister, Denys Shmygal, said the Russian attack had “failed.”

The mayor of the southern city of Kherson said there were power cuts due to the barrage. The governor of Ukraine’s western Ivano-Frankivsk region confirmed that critical infrastructure facilities had been targeted.

Authorities in the Lviv region bordering European and NATO member states Polandsaid two such facilities had been hit in the Drogobych and Stryi districts. “There were no casualties, but there was damage,” added the governor, Maksym Kozytsky.

It came as Russia was reeling from Ukraine firing six U.S.made ATACMS ballistic missiles and Britain-produced Storm Shadow cruise missiles and drones on Russian territory overnight on Tuesday.

Ukrainian officials said Tuesday’s strike reached 1,100 km (680 miles) into Russia, targeting an oil storage, refinery, chemical, and ammunition plants in the Bryansk, Saratov, Tula, and Tatarstan regions.

PAINFUL BLOW

Sources in Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency called the attack a “painful blow” to Russia’s ability to proceed with the invasion of Ukraine that it launched in February 2022.

Yet Wednesday’s attack underscored that Russia still has much weaponry in store to hit Ukraine hard in the middle of winter here.

National grid operator Ukrenergo urged Ukrainians to limit their electricity use throughout the day after lifting emergency blackouts in seven regions.

After the barrage, Zelenskyy called on the West to use around $250 billion of unallocated frozen Russian assets to buy Kyiv weapons.

He spoke at a press conference in Warsaw with the Polish president, Andrzej Duda. “Ukraine will take this money, allocate a large amount for domestic production and for the import of exactly those types of weapons that Ukraine does not have,” said Ukraine’s president.

The European Union last week paid Kyiv the first 3 billion euros ($3.1 billion) of a loan backed by the interest earned on Russian assets.

The latest attacks in Ukraine prompted neighboring Poland to say it scrambled fighter jets to secure its airspace but added that “there were no violations” this time. However, in a separate interview, Poland’s Europe minister, Adam Szłapka, said Europe must “take responsibility” for its own security, suggesting that it should rely less on the United States.

EU PRESIDENCY

His remarks come as Warsaw takes over the rotating European Union presidency at a time of increasing geopolitical uncertainty over the war, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

“There is awareness among European countries that the next few months will be a very difficult time … That’s why we think that this particular moment is the right time to say loudly that it’s time to take responsibility for our future and our security,” he told The Guardian newspaper.

The ongoing war led to tensions in the United States. On Wednesday, Mike Johnson, the U.S. House of Representatives speaker, removed his fellow Republican Mike Turner, a vocal supporter of assistance for Ukraine, as chairman of the powerful House intelligence committee.

Johnson, who has aligned himself closely with U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump, said he would soon announce a new chair because the “intelligence community and everything related to [the committee] needs a fresh start.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, pledged that the new administration would seek “bold diplomacy” to end the war. “There will have to be concessions made by the Russian Federation, but also by the Ukrainians,” he stressed.

Yet friends and foes seem to agree that peace talks should begin soon after Donald J. Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

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