Russian strikes knock out nearly half of Ukraine’s energy system

Nearly 50 percent of Ukraine’s energy system is offline as a result of Russian missile strikes, Denys Shmyhal, the country’s prime minister, said at a briefing.

“Unfortunately, Russia continues missile strikes on Ukraine’s critical civilian infrastructure, waging war on the civilian population and depriving them, in wintertime, of lights, water, heat, and communications. Russia launched nearly 100 missiles at Ukrainian cities on November 15 alone. It disabled almost half of our energy system,” publication Ukrinform quotes him as saying.

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• The Russian Ministry of Defense has been carrying out regular missile strikes on military and infrastructural targets in Ukraine since October 10. Russian authorities call the strikes a response to the October 8 explosion on the Kerch Strait bridge. Ukrainian authorities say that on November 15, Russians conducted the largest strike on energy infrastructure since the beginning of the war. The shelling in Ukraine has led to rolling blackouts. Russian presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov called the lack of light and heat in many parts of Ukraine the consequences of Kyiv authorities’ actions, including their refusal to negotiate.