File image.
Russia launched a massive group strike over the night of December 5 and 6, hitting targets in multiple regions in Ukraine, which acknowledged losses.
The Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement that the Russian military launched 653 drones and 51 missiles, including multiple hypersonic Kinzhals, during the large-scale strike. It went on to claim that its air defenses downed 585 drones and 30 missiles, but as usual Kiev later acknowledged losses indicating that the strike was successful.
Ukraine’s Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories said that power and heat generation facilities in Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions were targeted in the attack, adding that 9,500 customers remained without heat and 34,000 without water supply in southern Odessa.
“Port facilities [in Odessa] have also been attacked: part of the infrastructure has been de-energized, and operators have switched to backup power from generators,” the ministry said in a statement posted to Telegram.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy said on Telegram that “emergency repair work is already underway where safety conditions permit.”
“Energy companies are doing everything possible to restore power to all customers as quickly as possible,” it added.
Among the sites hit overnight was also a key railway hub in the city of Fastiv near Kiev, where the depot and railway carriages were damaged, Ukrainian state railway company Ukrzaliznytsia said in a statement posted to Telegram, adding that it was forced to cancel several suburban trains near the capital and the city of Chernihiv.
The Russian Ministry of Defense later said that the “massive strike” was carried out in response to “ terrorist attacks launched by Ukraine against civilian facilities on the territory of Russia.”
In a statement, the ministry said that “long-range air, ground-based high-precision weapons, including Kinzhal air-ballistic hypersonic missiles, [and] long-range unmanned aerial vehicles” hit Ukrainian defence industry enterprises and energy facilities that support their work, as well as port infrastructure used in the interests of Kiev forces.
“The goals of the strike were achieved. All the assigned targets were engaged,” it added.
It’s worth noting that Ukraine launched its own strike against Russia overnight, but it was largely unsuccessful. The Russian MoD reported the interception of a total of 116 drones.
The ministry said in a statement that 29 drones were intercepted over Ryazan, 27 over Voronezh Oblast, 23 over Bryansk, 21 over Belgorod, six over Tver, three over each of Kursk and Lipets, two over Tambov, as well as one over each of Tula and Oryol.
In Ryazan, the attack sparked a fire on the roof of a multi-storey residential building, and debris from drones fell into the grounds of “an industrial facility,” according to governor Pavel Malkov. Meanwhile in Voronezh, governor Alexander Gusev said a drone strike damaged a fuel station, a school and several residential buildings. These were the only losses.
Russian group strikes on Ukraine have grown both larger and more effective over the past year. They also become more frequent than before, with attacks involving dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones being reported at least once every week or so.
On the other side, Ukraine also stepped up strikes on Russia, but these strikes are becoming less and less effective, and Kiev’s efforts to incorporate long-range missiles have so far led to nowhere with most of the attacks mainly made up of drones.
This trend will likely continue next year. Russia will launch larger, more effective group strikes, and Ukraine’s attacks will likely get less effective.
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flying land mines. and they all the players don’t ban them because they love their effectiveness.
you have to be an idiot to believe that the ukrainians shot down 585 drones and 30 missiles out of 653 drones and 51 missiles launched by the russians.ukri are kaputt
you hate the truth obviously and love filth and dirt.