Russia carried out a “massive” attack on Friday with dozens of missiles and explosive drones targeting several energy sites in Ukraine, after Volodymyr Zelensky toured Europe to demand more weapons.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Ukrainian president traveled to London, Paris and Brussels to urge his European allies to provide him with long-range missiles and fighter jets, essential according to kyiv to be able to carry out counter-offensives against Russia. .
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia on Friday fired “six Kalibr cruise missiles”, “up to 35 S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles at the Kharkiv (northeast) and Zaporizhia (south) regions” , and used “seven Shahed drones” of Iranian design.
“Five Kalibr cruise missiles and five Shahed drones were destroyed” by anti-aircraft defense, the same source said.
According to her, “the enemy has struck the cities and essential infrastructure of Ukraine”, a few days before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion launched on February 24, 2022.
No casualties have been reported at this stage by the Ukrainian authorities.
Several explosions were heard in particular in kyiv, according to AFP journalists who saw white streaks in the sky, probably due to Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense missiles.
After anti-aircraft sirens sounded in the morning, residents of the capital descended on the metro for shelter, their eyes glued to their mobile phones in search of more information.
Since last October and after multiple setbacks on the ground, Moscow has frequently targeted so-called “essential” Ukrainian sites, plunging millions of inhabitants into the cold and darkness, in the middle of winter.
“Preventive cuts”
Quickly on Friday, the Ukrainian electricity operator Ukrenergo indicated that “several high-voltage infrastructures were affected in the eastern, western and southern regions, which led to power outages in some areas”.
The Russians “targeted power plants and transmission system facilities,” Ukrenergo said in its statement.
“Emergency preventive cuts are being put in place,” he added, a measure taken frequently during similar attacks in recent months, to avoid an overload on the national electricity system.
In Zaporizhia, “part of the city is without electricity”, indicated on Telegram the secretary of the city council, Anatoly Kurtev, according to whom, “in one hour, 17 strikes were registered in the city, (that is) the largest number since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
“Let’s hold on,” he urged the civilian population.
In the Kharkiv region, neighboring Russia, “fires broke out” following “missile strikes”, said regional governor Oleg Synegoubov.
“Some areas of the city (eponymous) remain without electricity,” he said on Telegram.
Pressing situation
The last major Russian strikes dated back to the end of January, the day after the Westerners decided to deliver heavy tanks to the Ukrainian army, a first in the conflict between kyiv and Moscow.
This new wave comes the day after a European tour by Volodymyr Zelensky to demand long-range missiles and fighter planes, which neither the Europeans nor the Americans have accepted at this stage, for fear of an escalation with Moscow.
Only the British opened the door to possible “long-term” deliveries.
“We want to get these planes that we need and there are agreements that […] are not public ”, however assured Thursday Mr. Zelensky, without giving more details.
A message quickly nuanced by his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, who judged in front of the press impossible to deliver combat planes “in the coming weeks”.
“I exclude absolutely nothing”, added the French head of state, but “it does not correspond to the needs today” of kyiv.
However, the situation is becoming more and more pressing on the ground, where the Russian army has been on the offensive since the beginning of the year.
Supported by the Wagner paramilitary group, it continues to shell Bakhmout in the Donbass – a city now completely destroyed and of little strategic importance – which it has been trying to conquer since last summer.
Still in the east, Moscow’s troops have also claimed the “success” of their latest assaults in recent days, especially around Vougledar, when the Russians are also on the offensive towards Kreminna, further north.