Strikes on Kharkiv and Odessa regions in Ukraine

UPDATE DAY

Russian forces have carried out massive strikes across Ukraine, particularly in the Kharkiv and Odessa regions, in the East, the South but also in the West, announced Thursday local authorities, the day after European negotiations on the delivery of shells to Kyiv.

Since October and after several military setbacks on the ground, Russia has been bombarding missiles and of drones from key installations in Ukraine, each time plunging millions of people into darkness and cold in the middle of the freezing winter.

In Kharkiv, in the east of the country, “the enemy carried out about 15 strikes on the city and the region. Occupants are once again targeting essential facilities,” the region's governor, Oleg Synegubov, said on social media.

“According to initial information, a private residential building in the Kharkiv region has been hit,” he added, announcing “clear” details of possible victims and the extent of the damage.

Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov explained that the city's “energy infrastructure”, the main one in the region, had been targeted and that there were “problems” with electricity in some neighborhoods.

< p>Energy installations in Kharkiv had already been hit by Russian strikes in mid-January.

The governor of the Odessa region (south), Maksym Marchneko, for his part reported that “missiles hit regional energy infrastructure and damaged residential buildings”, speaking of a “massive missile strike”.

The attack, which came just over a year after the invasion by Russian troops on February 24, 2022, caused no casualties, according to the governor, but “electricity supply restrictions” were put in place in place.

In the West, Khmelnytskyi Region Governor Segiy Gamaliy urged residents to 'stay in shelters' as 'the enemy is hitting critical infrastructure in the country' .

Retaliation

These large-scale strikes come shortly after the 27 EU defense ministers, meeting in Stockholm on Wednesday with their Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiï Reznikov, negotiated a plan for deliveries of shells and ammunition to Kyiv, which could be carried to two billion euros.

In mid-February, Moscow had already carried out a “massive” attack with dozens of missiles against energy production sites causing Ukraine to temporarily lose a significant part of its power generation capabilities.

Kyiv then announced that it had regained sufficient electricity production to avoid cuts, after months of restrictions due to repeated Russian strikes.

These latest strikes also follow the announcement on Wednesday by the head of the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner, Yevgeny Prigojine, of the capture of the eastern part of Bakhmout, a small town in eastern Ukraine at the heart of fighting for months, despite its disputed strategic value.

Bakhmout could fall “in the next few days”, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the press, adding however that “this does not necessarily reflect any turning point in the war”.

Wednesday , Director of US Intelligence Avril Haines said the major Russian offensive that was feared a few weeks ago has fizzled and that the Kremlin is unlikely to make “major territorial gains” in Ukraine this year and seems likely to r settle for lowered targets.