The third wave of Russian missile attack on Ukraine

On December 16, Russian military attacked the territory of Ukraine using multiple missiles. This is the 9th massive missile attack of the Russian army since the full-scale invasion in Ukraine.

In several regions, energy infrastructure was hit, according to the Ukraine newspaper. Due to Russian shelling, power facilities in the east and south of Ukraine have been damaged, which will cause emergency power outages. The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported destroying more than 60 missiles, of 76 missiles the Russian occupiers launched.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed explosions in several districts near administrative buildings. Other cities are de-energized due to the attack, with confirmed cases involving hitting residential buildings, dead, and wounded, small children among them.

Emergency in Ukraine

As a result of a massive Russian missile attack on the electricity infrastructure of Ukraine, more than 50% consumers of the unified energy system got cut off. Because of this, Ukrenergo announced “the emergency.”

However, this mode was introduced “only for electricity market participants, following the requirements of the Electricity Market Rules,” the company explained. “It concerns only market operations,” Ukrenergo added.

“Unfortunately, there are hits. The northern, southern, and central regions suffered the greatest damage. Where it is possible now, repair teams are already assessing the amount of damage and starting emergency repairs,” Ukrenergo assured. 

Ukrainians are without electricity not for the first time

They also reminded us that there is a regime of emergency shutdowns throughout Ukraine.

“Given that this is the 9th wave of missile strikes on energy facilities, the restoration of the power supply may take longer than before. Electricity will be supplied to critical infrastructure facilities: hospitals, water utilities, heat supply facilities, sewage treatment plants,” the company explained.

Did Russia run out of drones?

“There were no drones, but the Russians used everything they had except drones during the shelling on December 16. They used Tu-95, SU-35, MIG-31. There was no peculiarity, but they launched Tu-95 from Engels for the first time. This has never happened before,” Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat told Ukraine newspaper Ukrainska Pravda.

On November 23, the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that the Russian military has significantly depleted its arsenal of high-precision missiles but is likely to attack Ukraine’s critical infrastructure on a large scale shortly.

Ukraine needs more help from partners

On December 12, Vadym Skibitskyi, a representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, stated in an article in The New York Times that Russia retains the ability to produce modern high-precision missiles, despite the sanctions imposed by Western countries on the supply of military and dual-use goods to Moscow (these include, in particular, microchips used in missiles).

Because of massive shelling, Ukraine continues to strengthen its air defense, which in December reached 80% efficiency. In addition, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry hinted at a possible delivery of Patriot air defense systems by the US to Ukraine.