Russia launches 'massive' attack on Ukraine infrastructure

A “massive” Russian rocket and drone onslaught has targeted powerfulness infrastructure crossed Ukraine, the country's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

At slightest 10 radical were killed successful the strikes, which deed the capital, Kyiv, arsenic good arsenic aggregate targets successful respective regions including Donetsk, Lviv and Odesa.

Ukraine’s largest backstage vigor company, DTEK, said its thermal vigor plantshad suffered “significant damage”, resulting successful exigency blackouts.

It is the largest co-ordinated battle since aboriginal September, according to authorities and section media.

In total, astir 120 missiles and 90 drones were launched, Zelensky said connected Telegram.

"Peaceful cities, sleeping civilians" and "critical infrastructure" were targeted, Ukraine's overseas curate Andrii Sybiha said.

The politician of the Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, said determination had besides been disruptions to vigor and h2o supplies, though the second was gradually being restored. Hospitals and different captious infrastructure were operating utilizing generators.

Further east, the metropolis of Mykolaiv was besides hit. The region's leader, Vitaliy Kim, told the BBC that the radical were resilient there, contempt being attacked regularly.

"People are successful a bully signifier and privation to support themselves. We bash not privation to suffer our homes," helium said.

In Kyiv, fragments from intercepted missiles and drones fell successful respective places, but determination were nary reports of injuries.

The onslaught was the eighth large-scale 1 targeting Ukraine's vigor facilities this year, DTEK said successful a statement, adding that its plants had been attacked much than 190 times since the commencement of Russia’s full-scale penetration of Ukraine successful February 2022.

Ukrainian officials fearfulness the astir caller onslaught could awesome different concerted Russian effort to deplete the powerfulness grid arsenic wintertime arrives, causing yet different hard winter.

Poland, Ukraine's neighbour to the west, scrambled combatant jets to patrol its ain airspace arsenic a information precaution.

"Due to a monolithic onslaught by Russia, which is carrying retired strikes utilizing cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones against sites located, among different places, successful occidental Ukraine, operations by Polish and allied craft person begun," , Poland's Operational Command said.

Hungary, which neighbours some Ukraine and Poland, was besides connected alert aft drone attacks struck the westernmost Subcarpathian portion - astir 20km (12 miles) from the Hungarian border.

The country's defence curate said the "situation is being monitored continuously".

These latest attacks travel arsenic some Ukraine and Russia proceed to effort and expect however US President-elect Donald Trump volition enactment erstwhile his medication takes powerfulness successful January.

Trump has consistently said his precedence is to extremity the warfare and what helium describes arsenic a drain connected US resources successful the signifier of subject assistance to Kyiv. He has not said how.

The US has been the top supplier of arms to Ukraine. Between the commencement of the warfare and the extremity of June 2024, it delivered oregon committed to nonstop weapons and instrumentality worthy $55.5bn (£41.5bn), according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German probe organisation.

There are fears successful Kyiv that it whitethorn travel nether unit to negociate and extremity to the warfare that whitethorn favour Russia's advances - aft each it continues to power a ample swathe of Ukrainian territory.

Zelensky has said helium is definite the warfare with Russia volition “end sooner” than it different would person nether the caller Trump presidency.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov precocious told Russian authorities media of "positive" signals from the incoming US administration. But Russia has denied that a telephone telephone took place successful which Donald Trump reportedly warned the Russian president against escalating the war.

Meanwhile, the person of Germany - different Ukrainian state - has defended a telephone telephone helium had with Putin connected Friday, thing Kyiv criticised arsenic an effort astatine appeasement.

"It was important to archer him [Putin] that helium should not number connected the enactment of Germany, Europe and galore others successful the satellite for Ukraine waning, but that it is present besides up to him to guarantee that the warfare comes to an end," Olaf Scholz said connected Sunday.

He added that the Russian president had fixed nary denotation of a displacement successful his reasoning connected the war.