Ukraine and Russia launch major strikes on each other with Trump’s inauguration days away
By Kostyantyn Hak and Sophie Tanno, CNN
(CNN) — Ukraine and Russia have been exchanging major drone and missile strikes, with each seeking to gain an advantage as US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration nears.
The incoming US leader has pledged to bring a quick end to the fighting, but with few details available on how he would achieve this his arrival at the White House brings great uncertainty to a full-blown Russian invasion about to enter its fourth year.
Overnight on Monday into Tuesday, Kyiv carried out what it said was its “most massive” attack of the conflict so far, attacking deep inside Russia with drones and missiles, including six US-made long-range ATACMS ballistic missiles, Ukrainian and Russian officials said.
Outgoing US President Joe Biden gave the green light for Ukraine to use American longer-range missiles to strike inside Russia in November last year, something Moscow sees as a major escalation.
Moscow has previously warned that the use of ATACMs would be met with the firing of Russia’s new weapon, an intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik.” The missile has only been fired once before, on November 21.
The Ukrainian army said that military and oil facilities were targeted in their latest barrage, saying such attacks would continue “until the Russian Federation’s armed aggression against Ukraine is completely stopped.”
Russia launched its own bombardment of Ukraine overnight into Wednesday, predominantly targeting Ukraine’s beleaguered energy sector.
According to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, the overnight attacks involved more than 40 missiles, of which 30 were destroyed. More than 70 Russian attack drones were also involved.
“Another massive Russian attack. It’s the middle of winter, and the target for the Russians remains the same: our energy sector,” Zelensky said in a Wednesday statement.
“The targets include gas infrastructure and energy facilities that ensure normal life for people.”
The attack forced Ukraine’s state energy company, Ukrenergo, to temporarily shut off its power supplies – a measure it takes to prevent the energy system from collapsing. Power was restored by 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday, it said.
Russia has repeatedly pounded Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the cold winter months, forcing the country to implement emergency power outages.
The uptick in strikes comes in the lead up to Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
Nikolai Patrushev, an advisor to Putin, rejected the idea that Russia might be willing to concede any occupied territory to Ukraine, in an interview with Russian newspaper Komsomolyskaya Pravda, published Tuesday.
He also said Ukraine could cease to exist as a sovereign state in 2025, without offering further explanation.
“It can’t be ruled out that Ukraine will cease to exist at all in the coming year,” Patrushev said.
In a separate development, reports have emerged that an Australian national captured while fighting for Ukraine may have been killed by Russia, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledging to take the “strongest action possible,” if confirmed.
Oscar Jenkins was captured by Russian forces last month, after which a video surfaced of him being questioned while dressed in a military uniform. Australian national broadcaster ABC and CNN affiliate Seven News reported that the 32-year-old has likely been killed, both citing sources in Ukraine.
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