LVIV: Russia rained missiles and drones on Ukraine in a mass overnight attack, officials said on Sunday, killing at least five people and damaging civilian infrastructure including energy facilities across numerous regions. Moscow has stepped up attacks particularly on Ukraine's energy grid and gas production sites in recent weeks as the fourth winter of war approaches, and as diplomatic efforts to end the fighting have stalled.
Four of the victims in the overnight attacks were family members killed when their residential building in the western region of Lviv bordering Poland was destroyed, local prosecutors said. An industrial park in Lviv's regional capital was also set ablaze and parts of the city had been left without power, said mayor Andriy Sadovyi, who had urged residents early on Sunday to stay inside as authorities battled multiple fires.
A correspondent heard explosions booming across the dark morning sky as air defences engaged targets from several directions. The attack on Lviv was the largest of the war on the Lviv region, said governor Maksym Kozytskyi, adding it involved 140 drones and 23 missiles. In the village outside Lviv where the family members were killed, rescue workers dug through heaps of rubble. Only the foundation of their building remained. Volodymyr Hutnyk, a local official, said 10 other nearby homes were damaged beyond repair.
In southeastern Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia, one person was killed and 10 others wounded in a combined strike that left more than 73,000 customers without power, said governor Ivan Fedorov. Service had been restored to more than 20,000 by early afternoon, he said. Civilian infrastructure was also damaged in the regions of Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia, Chernihiv, Kherson, Kharkiv and Odesa, said Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. Ukraine's energy ministry said energy facilities had been damaged in Zaporizhzhia and the northern Chernihiv region. Ukrainian state gas and oil company Naftogaz said Russia had struck and damaged gas infrastructure, but did not offer any details.
Russia's Defence Ministry said on Sunday its forces had struck Ukrainian military-industrial facilities as well as gas and energy infrastructure overnight. "Another deliberate act of terror against civilians," Svyrydenko wrote on X. "Moscow continues to strike homes, schools, and energy facilities - proving that destruction remains its only strategy."
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russian forces had fired more than 50 missiles and nearly 500 drones. Nato member Poland said it scrambled aircraft early on Sunday to ensure its air safety. "Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness," Poland's operational command said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that if the United States supplied Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for long-range strikes deep into Russia then it would lead to the destruction of Moscow's relationship with Washington. Less than two months since US President Donald Trump met Putin at a summit in Alaska, peace looks even further away with Russian forces advancing in Ukraine, Russian drones allegedly flying in Nato airspace and now Washington talking about direct participation in striking deep into the world's biggest nuclear power.
Trump has said he is disappointed with Putin for not making peace and has cast Russia as a "paper tiger" for failing to subdue Ukraine. Putin last week hit back, questioning if Nato was not the "paper tiger" for failing to stop Russia's advance. US Vice President JD Vance said last month that Washington was considering a Ukrainian request to obtain long-range Tomahawks that could strike deep into Russia, including Moscow, though it is unclear if a final decision has been made. "This will lead to the destruction of our relations, or at least the positive trends that have emerged in these relations," Putin said.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the United States will provide Ukraine with intelligence on long-range energy infrastructure targets
in Russia, as it weighs whether to send Kyiv missiles that could be used in such strikes. Two officials confirmed the Journal report. But one US official and three other sources said that the Trump Administration's desire to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine may not be viable because current inventories are committed to the US Navy and other uses. — Reuters
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