KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥 Ukraine's capital came under one of the biggest attacks of the war on Friday as Russia's invading forces fired dozens of missiles across the country, triggering widespread power outages, Ukrainian officials said.
Gunfire from air defense systems and thudding explosions combined with the wail of air-raid sirens as the barrage targeted critical infrastructure in cities including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih and Zaporhizhzhia. The head of the Ukrainian armed forces said they intercepted 60 of 76 missiles launched.
鈥淢y beautiful sunshine. What am I going to do without you?鈥 wailed Svytlana Andreychuk in the arms of Red Cross staffers. Her sister Olha was one of three people killed when a missile slammed into a four-story apartment building in Kryvyi Rih.
鈥淪he was so cheerful in life. She was a beauty. She helped everybody. She gave advice to everybody. How I love you so,鈥 said Andreychuk.
In Kyiv, city council member Ksenia Semenova said 60% of residents were without power Friday evening, and 70% without water. The subway system was out of service and unlikely to be back in operation Saturday, she said.
Russian strikes on electricity and water systems have occurred intermittently since mid-October, increasing the suffering of the population as winter approaches. But the Ukrainian military has in shooting down incoming rockets and explosive drones.
Friday's attacks took place after this week agreed to give a to Ukraine to boost the country's defense. Russia鈥檚 Foreign Ministry warned Thursday that the sophisticated system and any crews accompanying it would be for the Russian military.
The U.S. also pledged last month to send $53 million in energy-related equipment to help Ukraine withstand the attacks on its infrastructure. John Kirby, spokesman for the White House 春色直播 Security Council, said Friday that the first tranche of that aid had arrived in the country.
More than half the Russian missiles fired Friday targeted Ukraine's capital. The city administration said Kyiv withstood 鈥渙ne of the biggest rocket attacks鈥 it has faced since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 10 months ago. Ukrainian air defense shot down 37 of about 40 missiles that entered the city鈥檚 airspace, and one person was injured, it said.
Ukraine's air force said Russian forces fired cruise missiles from the Admiral Makarov frigate in the Black Sea, while Kh-22 cruise missiles were fired from long-range Tu-22M3 bombers over the Sea of Azov, and tactical aircraft-fired guided missiles.
In Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy鈥檚 hometown in central Ukraine, the apartment building hit by a missile had a gaping hole in its upper floors. Along with the three people killed, at least 13 were taken to the hospital, said Igor Karelin, deputy head of the city鈥檚 emergency services.
Rescue teams with sniffer dogs searched through the debris for a missing mother and her 18-month-old child.
Also at Kryvyi Rih, nearly 600 miners were stuck underground because of the missile strikes, but were later rescued, Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said on state TV.
He said 鈥渟everal energy infrastructure facilities were completely destroyed.鈥
State-owned grid operator Ukrenergo wrote on Facebook that Friday鈥檚 attack was 鈥渢he ninth wave of missile strikes on energy facilities,鈥 and because of the repeated damage, 鈥渢he restoration of power supply may take longer than before.鈥
Analysts have said Russian strikes targeting energy infrastructure are part of an attempt to freeze Ukrainians into submission after battlefield losses by Russian forces. Experts say that has only strengthened the resolve of Ukrainians to resist Russia鈥檚 invasion, while Moscow tries to buy time for a possible offensive in coming months .
Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov reported three strikes Friday on critical infrastructure in that city, Ukraine's second-largest. By evening, about 55% of the city had its electricity restored.
The southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia and its surrounding region were hit by 21 rockets, city council secretary Anatoly Kurtev said. There were no initial reports of injuries.
And Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported explosions in at least four districts there. Many residents were sheltering deep underground in subway tunnels.
At the site of one attempted strike in Kyiv, military commanders told The Associated Press that the city鈥檚 territorial defense mobile group had shot down a cruise missile with a machine gun. It wasn鈥檛 immediately clear whether other Ukrainian fire may have contributed to downing the rocket.
鈥淎lmost impossible to hit a missile with a machine gun, but it was done,鈥 said a commander who asked to be identified only by the call sign 鈥淗era鈥 for security reasons.
Ukrzaliznytsia, the national railway operator, said power was out in a number of stations in the eastern and central Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions. But trains continued to run after electric power was switched to backup, steam-engine power.
In neighboring Moldova, the state-owned energy company reported disruptions to its electricity network and warned of a 鈥渉igh risk鈥 of power outages. Moldova 鈥 whose Soviet-era systems remain interconnected with Ukraine鈥檚 鈥 has already suffered two massive blackouts in recent months as Russia attacked Ukraine鈥檚 energy grid.
The across Ukraine took place on Dec. 5.
鈥淕rateful for the work of Ukraine鈥檚 air defense amid more escalatory Russian attacks this morning on civilian infrastructure in Kyiv and around the country,鈥 the U.S. ambassador in Kyiv, Bridget Brink, wrote on Twitter.
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