Zelensky: Russia's Christmas Attack Is 'Inhumane'

Barrage on power grid leaves about a half-million people without power
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 25, 2024 6:11 AM CST
Russia Launches Christmas Attack on Ukraine Power Grid
Firefighters at the site of an apartment building destroyed by a Russian attack in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine.   (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Russia launched a major strike on Ukraine's power grid Wednesday morning as millions celebrated Christmas, reports the BBC.

  • Moscow sent a barrage of missiles and drones toward various targets, striking a thermal power plant and forcing an estimated half-million people to seek shelter in metro stations, per the AP.
  • Vladimir Putin "deliberately chose Christmas for an attack," said Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky. "What could be more inhumane?"
  • Russia confirmed what it called a "massive" strike and boasted that its "goal was achieved," per the BBC.

  • The Kharkiv region was especially hard hit, and most of the more than 500,000 people left without power were in this area. Temperatures were in the low 30s. One person was reported killed in the Dnipro region.
  • Reuters notes that this is only the second year Ukraine has been celebrating Christmas on Dec. 25, part of a new calendar put in place to further separate itself from Russia, where Christmas is celebrated on Jan. 7.
(More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)

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