Live: Russian strikes a ‘response’ to Ukraine using Western missiles, Putin says

Russian strikes a ‘response’ to Ukraine using Western missiles, Putin says

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow’s “massive” aerial barrage on Ukraine, mainly targeting the country’s energy facilities and leaving more than one million people without power, was a “response” to the long-range strikes on Russian territory with Western missiles.

Putin says Russia could strike ‘decision-making centres’ in Kyiv

Russia is selecting targets in Ukraine that could include “decision-making centres” in Kyiv in response to Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian territory with Western weapons, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

Putin said Russia’s production of advanced missile systems exceeds that of the NATO military alliance by 10 times, and that Moscow plans to ramp up production further.

Russia attacked Ukraine’s Naftogaz facilities in the morning, company says

Ukraine’s state oil and gas firm Naftogaz said on Wednesday that Russian forces attacked its facilities in the morning missile strike but it will not affect the company’s work.

“Our employees and contracted services are dealing with the consequences of the damage,” Naftogaz said on the Telegram messenger.

Russia used cluster munitions to attack Ukraine power sector, Zelensky says

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia used cruise missiles with cluster munitions to attack Ukrainian energy infrastructure on Thursday, calling it a “despicable escalation”.

“In several regions, strikes with cluster munitions were recorded, and they targeted civilian infrastructure,” Zelensky said in a post on Telegram, adding: “This is a very despicable escalation of Russian terrorist tactics.”

Zelensky reiterated his call to Kyiv’s Western allies to provide more air defence and ensure timely deliveries, especially during critical winter months as Ukraine struggles to protect its energy infrastructure from the strikes.

Ukraine downs more than 70 missiles, 35 drones fired by Russia

Ukraine on Thursday said it had downed 76 missiles and 35 drones launched by Russia overnight in its latest aerial barrage of 188 projectiles that Kyiv said targeted energy infrastructure. 

The air force added in its statement that 62 drones were “lost” from its radars or downed with electronic jamming defensive systems.

At least one million people without power in Ukraine after ‘massive’ Russian attack

At least one million people are without power in Ukraine after Russia staged a “massive” attack on the country’s energy infrastructure in the early hours of Thursday.

The missile strikes come as temperatures have dropped to freezing, and a UN official has warned that as Russia continues to target Ukraine’s power grid, this winter could become the “harshest since the start of the war”.

“Once again, the energy sector is under massive enemy attack. Attacks on energy facilities are taking place across Ukraine,” Energy Minister German Galushchenko said in a Facebook post.

National power grid operator Ukrenergo had “urgently introduced emergency power cuts”, he added, as temperatures across the country dropped to around 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit).

In western Ukraine alone, more than one million people were without power on Thursday morning.



Good morning and welcome to FRANCE 24’s live blog on Russia’s war on Ukraine.