Russia Major Ukrainian city struggles with consequences of drone attacks

Following an unprecedented wave of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, people in the western city of Ternopil are still struggling with the consequences.

According to official reports, parts of the city are still without electricity and the hot water supply has been cut in wintry temperatures around freezing point. Germany has announced that it will once again provide funds to repair Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, Ukraine and its allies are worried about a new Russian missile.

Selenskyj: a long way from real peace

On Tuesday night, Russia launched an unprecedented number of drone attacks on Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian air defense, the country was attacked with 188 drones and four Iskander-M ballistic missiles. According to the Ukrainian news portal "Ukrajinska Pravda", this was the largest number of drones launched by Russia in one night to date.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi admitted that it would take time to remedy the consequences of the drone attacks in the Ternopil region. "Almost 200 Russian drones against Ukraine within one day are almost 200 proofs that Russian efforts are extremely far from any idea of real peace," the head of state emphasized in his evening video address. Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian invasion for more than two and a half years.

Problems with power supply in Ternopil

Over 200,000 people live in the large city of Ternopil, a good 150 kilometers from the EU border. "Part of the city is without electricity today," said Mayor Serhij Nadal in a video posted on Telegram in the evening. In some parts of the city, there is therefore only electricity for two hours every eight hours. Although the water supply and sewage system are fully functional again, there is no hot water. Some of the district heating systems have to be kept running with generators. Emergency generators are being used to keep hospitals, schools and kindergartens running.

Deaths in Sumy and in Russian-occupied Nova Kakhovka

According to official reports, at least two people were killed in a Russian attack on the large city of Sumy in north-eastern Ukraine. "There is probably another person under the rubble," said Selenskyj. A car repair shop had been hit, and another building and a kindergarten had also been affected.

According to Selenskyj, Sumy is said to have been hit with multiple rocket launchers. "Protection against this is only really possible by destroying Russian weapons, Russian launching pads on Russian territory," he said. That is why it is so important to be able to attack targets in Russia.

Sumy is located just over 30 kilometers from the contested Russian border region of Kursk. The leadership in Kiev has only recently received permission from its allies to use more extensive Western weapons systems from the USA, Great Britain and France against targets on Russian territory.

According to Russian reports, the Ukrainian military is said to have attacked an S-400 air defense position and an airfield in the Kursk region with US-made ATACMS missiles. The Ministry of Defense in Moscow admitted on its Telegram channel that at least three of the long-range missiles could not be intercepted during the attacks.

Meanwhile, at least four people are said to have been killed by mortar fire in the Russian-occupied town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. A further seven were injured, the Moscow-appointed governor of the region, Vladimir Saldo, announced on Telegram. Russia and Ukraine blamed each other. The claims of both warring parties cannot be independently verified.

Ukrainian troops push back Russians near Kupjansk

According to their own statements, Ukrainian army units in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv succeeded in pushing back Russian soldiers who had advanced into the city of Kupyansk. "Everything there is under the control of our armed forces," assured the spokesman for the army group responsible for the section, Nazar Voloshyn, on news television. Russian advances on the Ukrainian-controlled western bank of the Oskil River had also failed. According to the report, the destruction of Russian technology mainly involves the use of drones.

According to military observers, a Russian unit unexpectedly advanced into the eastern suburb of Kupjansk almost two weeks ago. The Ukrainian military did not confirm this. However, the front line runs just two kilometers north of the traffic junction. Kupyansk was already occupied by Russia from February to September 2022.

Germany wants to give Ukraine millions more

The German government is making further money available to repair Ukraine's energy infrastructure. The total of 65 million euros will flow into the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, as announced by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK). This has been funded by many international donors since 2022.

NATO and Ukraine discuss new Russian missile

Representatives of the 32 NATO states and Ukraine have meanwhile exchanged information on a new Russian medium-range missile. According to information from alliance circles, the discussions at ambassador level at an unscheduled meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council focused, among other things, on the options for defending against the weapon. In particular, US Patriot and THAAD missile defense systems were discussed. Ukraine does not yet have the latter.

The Russian armed forces used the experimental medium-range missile called Oreshnik for the first time on Thursday in an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Russia claims that it flies at hypersonic speed and cannot be intercepted. Experts doubt at least the second point. It is assumed that the missile could theoretically also be equipped with nuclear explosive devices.

SDA