Ukrainian strikes disrupt power and heating to 2 major Russian cities

 

 

Ukrainian drone and missile strikes knocked out power and heat to two major Russian cities near the border, as both sides traded fresh blows to each other’s energy grids and nuclear fears surged over the weekend.

 

Authorities in Russia’s Voronezh and Belgorod regions said Ukrainian attacks caused widespread blackouts. In Voronezh, home to over a million residents, drones reportedly hit a local power facility, triggering fires and heating outages. Belgorod’s governor said a separate missile strike caused “serious damage” to energy infrastructure, leaving around 20,000 households without electricity.

 

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have destroyed or intercepted 44 Ukrainian drones overnight but made no mention of the strikes on the two cities. Blackouts were also reported in Taganrog, in the Rostov region, after a power line shutdown sparked a substation fire.

 

The latest escalation underscores Kyiv’s strategy of targeting Russian oil and power facilities to erode Moscow’s war finances — while Moscow continues pounding Ukraine’s grid in what officials in Kyiv describe as “weaponizing winter.”

 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of “deliberately endangering nuclear safety” after Friday’s mass missile barrage struck substations powering the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear plants. Kyiv has called for an emergency IAEA meeting, warning that strikes near nuclear infrastructure risk catastrophe.

 

Meanwhile, Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov said he was ready to meet U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss Ukraine — the first public signal of willingness to resume dialogue after months of diplomatic frost. Lavrov repeated that any peace must “take Russian interests into account.”

 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov sought to calm fears of nuclear escalation, saying Moscow “has no intention” of resuming nuclear testing despite President Vladimir Putin’s recent order to study the option. The move followed comments by U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting Washington might consider restarting atomic tests after a 30-year pause.

 

Key Takeaways:

• Ukrainian strikes hit power infrastructure in Russia’s Voronezh and Belgorod, leaving tens of thousands without electricity.

• Kyiv accused Moscow of targeting substations that supply two Ukrainian nuclear power plants, calling for an emergency IAEA session.

• Despite nuclear test tensions, the Kremlin said Russia will honor its global ban obligations — even as Lavrov signals readiness for U.S. talks.

 

Source:  AP

Let's hope they succeed in cutting power to Moscow.

 

Let's see if the ruzzian christmas hamster video ages well. Karma is a bitch.