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Russia fired one of its largest drone and missile assaults against Ukraine overnight, killing three people, including a 7-year-old girl, and cutting power to thousands as winter approaches, officials said.
About 705 drones and missiles flew over the border late Wednesday into early Thursday, wreaking havoc across Ukraine and killing two men in Zaporizhzhia and a little girl in Ladyzhyn who died in the hospital due to her severe injuries, according to Kyiv.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko slammed the attack as yet another assault on civilian areas, including energy stations, with the damage forcing nationwide power restrictions.
“Its goal is to plunge Ukraine into darkness,” Svyrydenko said of the latest attack. “…To stop the terror, we need more air defense systems, tougher sanctions, and maximum pressure on the aggressor.”
Ukraine’s air force said Russia had launched 653 drones and 52 missiles during the assault, with 82 avoiding the military’s interception efforts and hitting 20 different locations in the country.
At least 17 people were injured in the Zaporizhzhia region, including six children, with four hurt in Vinnystia, the region where the 7-year-old was killed.
The projectiles also hit energy facilities in central, western, and southeastern Ukraine, causing Kyiv to announce nationwide limits on electricity to retail and industrial consumers.
“This attack is a bad blow in our efforts to keep power flowing this winter,” said Maxim Timchenko, the CEO of DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company whose thermal power stations were targeted in the assault.
“Based on the intensity of attacks for the past two months, it is clear Russia is aiming for the complete destruction of Ukraine’s energy system,” Timchenko added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv was working to restore and maintain necessary services across the impacted areas, as he called on the West to levy harsher sanctions against Russia.
“Russia continues its terrorist war against life itself, and it’s crucial that every such vile attack on civilians boomerangs back on Russia with concrete consequences – sanctions and real pressure,” Zelensky said.
“We count on America, Europe, and the G7 countries not to ignore this. Moscow’s intent to destroy everything. New steps are needed to increase pressure – on Russia’s oil and gas industry, its financial system, and through secondary sanctions on those who bankroll this war,” he added.
Last week, the US rolled out some of its heaviest sanctions on Russia yet, hitting two of Moscow’s largest energy companies after plans were scrapped to host the second summit between President Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
With Post wires
