Ukraine-war latest: Russia launches major missile attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure

Will Vernon
Reporting from Kyiv

While many people around the world will be waking up to a
peaceful and joyous day spent with family, for Ukrainians, Christmas morning
began very differently: sirens, explosions, and destruction.

Here in Kyiv, alerts from the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces
pinged incessantly on our mobile phones as they reported more and more missiles
being launched at Ukrainian cities.

Ukraine’s largest private energy company,
DTEK, said its thermal power plants had been seriously damaged in the strikes
and repairs were underway.

The majority of Ukraine’s power grid has been systematically
damaged or destroyed by Russia in recent months, resulting in emergency
blackouts in recent days in Kyiv, Dnipro and other Ukrainian regions.

Russia,
it seems, is attempting to plunge Ukrainians into darkness on Christmas
morning.