Russian Missile Attack Kills Two

Two people were killed and five others injured in the Russian missile strikes on the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine.

The statement was given by a Ukrainian military official said Friday.

Valentyn Reznichenko, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said two children were among the injured, and were being treated in hospital.

Earlier Friday, the deputy head of the Ukrainian President’s Office said a residential building had been hit in the city, adding that people may be under the rubble.

Russia has waged a series of deadly strikes against Ukraine since October that have damaged the energy system and civilian infrastructure, causing power outages in the freezing winter.

Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure Friday have knocked out power on a number of railway sections, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Energy facilities in the east and south of Ukraine have been damaged following Russian missile attacks Friday, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said.

“Another wave of massive Russian shelling of energy infrastructure. The shelling is continuing,” he wrote on Telegram.
There will be emergency power outages in some parts of the country, he added.

Parts of Ukraine are without power on Friday following the Russian strikes, including the cities of Kharkiv and Poltava.

Russia has waged a series of missile and drone attacks against Ukraine since October that have damaged the energy system and civilian infrastructure, causing power outages in the freezing winter.

Three districts in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv have been hit by Russian missiles, Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said on Friday.

They are Holosiivskyi, Dniprovskyi and Desniansky along the eastern edge of the capital.

It has been gathered that the US is finalizing plans to send the system to Ukraine triggered a cryptic warning from Russia’s US embassy Wednesday of “unpredictable consequences.”

Sending the Patriot missiles would be seen as an escalation by the US, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova added Thursday.

“Earlier, many experts, including those overseas, questioned the rationality of such a step which would lead to an escalation of the conflict and increase the risk of directly dragging the US army into combat,” Zakharova said at a briefing in Moscow.

The Patriot system is expensive and complicated and requires intensive training for the multiple people it takes to operate it, but could help the country guard against Russian attacks that have left millions without power.

Asked Thursday about Russian warnings that the Patriot system would be “provocative,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said those comments would not influence US aid to Ukraine.

“I find it ironic and very telling that officials from a country that brutally attacked its neighbor in an illegal and unprovoked invasion … that they would choose to use words like provocative to describe defensive systems that are meant to save lives and protect civilians,” Ryder told reporters.

“Despite Russia’s propaganda to portray themselves as victims, it’s important to remember that Russia is the aggressor here,” he said.

However, he added, “The US is not at war with Russia, and we do not seek conflict. Our focus is on providing Ukraine with the security assistance it needs to defend itself.”

A police officer can be seen in the photo, standing next to part of a Russian cruise missile shot down by the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, on December 16.