Russia fires new wave of missiles across Ukraine Thousands are without power in Kyiv, Lviv, and beyond after Moscow's latest attack
On the morning of December 29, the Russian army launched another round of shelling attacks on Ukraine. Air raid alerts were issued for all of Ukraine’s regions. Before the shelling began, Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovich reported that Russia was expected to fire about 100 missiles over multiple waves. His colleague Mykhailo Podolyak later said that the country had actually been targeted by 120 missiles, though after the shelling stopped, the Ukrainian General Staff reported that the total number of missiles was 69. According to Mykolaiv Regional Governor Vitalii Kim, in addition to missiles, Russia also used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine’s territory. The previous massive shelling attack against Ukraine occurred on December 16.
Infrastructure damage was reported in Kyiv, Lviv, and Kharkiv, as well as in the Odesa and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. According to Kyiv officials, two private buildings and a vehicle in the city were damaged by missile fragments and three people were injured (including a 14-year-old girl) after a missile was struck down by air defenses. A manufacturing plant and a playground also reportedly suffered damage.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said that the attack left 90 percent of the city without power, and that water outages may be coming. In Kharkiv and the Odesa region, the shelling damaged critical infrastructure. Additionally, according to Deputy Head of the Ukrainian President's Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko, missile fragments hit residential buildings in the Odesa and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. It’s currently unclear whether there were any injuries or deaths.
Ukraine managed to intercept 54 of the 69 missiles Russia fired at its territory, according to the Ukrainian General Staff. All 16 missiles launched at Kyiv were shot down, city officials reported. Nonetheless, 40 percent of consumers had no power after the attacks. “[This was] due to necessary security measures taken by energy engineers during the air raid alert,” explained Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Air defenses were also activated in Ukraine’s regions. In particular, Ukrainian air defense systems shot down five missiles over the Mykolaiv region and 21 over the Odesa region, though energy officials there imposed emergency power outages due to energy infrastructure damage. Trains were delayed in multiple regions for the same reason, Ukrainian Railways reported. In several regions, electricity was reportedly turned off as a preventative measure.
Air defense systems were also reportedly activated in multiple Russian regions on Thursday, including in the Bryansk region’s Klintsy district and in the city of Belgorod in the Belgorod region, according to local authorities. There were no injuries or serious damage reported in either case.
Additionally, residents in Engels, a city in Russia’s Saratov region, reported hearing explosions near the local airfield, which has been attacked by Ukrainian drones twice in the last month. Saratov Regional Governor Roman Busargin reported that air defenses were activated in the region and that “an unidentified object was destroyed.”