Putin Launches Massive Missile Attacks On Ukraine; Kyiv Warns Of Wide-Ranging Ground Offensive By Russia

Vladimir Putin‘s army pounded Ukraine with a barrage of missiles on Friday. 

What Happened: Ukrainian officials said the latest big wave of missile strikes since October destroyed critical infrastructure across the country and knocked out power as people took cover in shelters to save lives.

“The attack on the capital continues,” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram.

Local officials said the attack destroyed infrastructure in the eastern region of Kharkiv, the Black Sea region of Odesa and Vinnytsia in west-central Ukraine. The officials added that Kharkiv, Poltava’s central city and parts of Kyiv were left without power and the northern Sumy region suffered outages. 

According to the deputy head of the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a residential building had been hit in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, where he said, “There may be people under the rubble.”

See Also: Ukraine’s Zelenskyy Slams Olympics’ ‘Neutral Flag’ Idea For Putin’s Athletes: ‘All Their Flags Are Stained With Blood’

“Do not ignore air raid alerts, remain in shelters,” Tymoshenko wrote on Telegram.

On Thursday, Ukraine warned that Russia is planning a wide-ranging ground offensive for early in the new year, despite recent military setbacks. 

“The second part of the mobilisation, 150,000 approximately… do a minimum of three months to prepare. It means they are trying to start the next wave of the offensive, probably in February, like last year. That’s their plan,” Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told the Guardian.

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