Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of starting the new year by continuing the war that began in 2022 with its invasion of Ukraine, with the strikes targeting energy infrastructure, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
"Russia deliberately starts the new year by continuing the war, launching over 200 drones" on New Year's Eve, Zelensky said on social media. He added that the targets of the strikes were energy infrastructure.
A Russian drone attack caused damage to Ukrainian energy infrastructure in several Ukrainian regions overnight, the Ukrainian Energy Ministry reported, quoted by Reuters.
A "significant number" of households in the northwestern Volyn region and the southwestern Odessa region. In addition, power supply was cut off in some parts of the Chernihiv region.
The governor of the Volyn region said that more than 103,000 households in the region were left without electricity as a result of the attack. The region is located several hundred kilometers from the front line and borders NATO member Poland.
“Two additional Patriot air defense systems have been deployed to protect Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure,“ the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in a post on the “Telegram” app.
In August last year, Germany announced that it would deliver two Patriot“ of Ukraine, after reaching an agreement with the US that Berlin would be the first to receive the latest systems in exchange.
The Ukrainian military said on "Telegram" that it had struck the Russian "Ilsky" oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar region overnight, the results of the attack are still being confirmed. The "Almetevskaya" oil refinery was also hit. in the Russian republic of Tatarstan.
Russia fired fewer missiles and drones at Ukraine in December than the previous month, despite significant damage to energy infrastructure, according to an analysis of Ukrainian data by Agence France-Presse.
Russian forces fired a total of 5,310 long-range missiles and drones at the country in December, down 6% from November, according to data compiled daily by the Ukrainian air force.
The Ukrainian air force said it shot down or intercepted 80% of them in December, but the devices are improving, forcing air defenses to adapt.
The strikes have mainly targeted Ukrainian gas and electricity infrastructure, despite intensive diplomatic talks that have been underway since November to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II, AFP noted.