After eight weeks of missile strikes, Russia has once again launched a barrage of missiles across Ukraine.
Several power outages were reported, mostly in the east. Odesa, in the south, was without power. Ukraine says four people were killed.
Despite this, the strikes may have caused less damage than previous ones.
Among the 70 missiles fired by Russia, 60 were shot down by Ukraine. Moscow claims to have hit all 17 targets with its missiles.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said late on Monday that the strikes also affected electricity supplies in Moldova.
“These attacks once again demonstrate that Russia’s ability to carry out such massive terrorist attacks is a threat to the entire region.”
As winter approaches, Ukrainians have been left without electricity and heat due to previous Russian attacks.
After several days of warnings, Russian air defenses intercepted Ukrainian drones that reportedly attacked two airbases deep inside Russia, which Moscow has blamed for triggering the new wave of attacks.
Russia’s defense ministry reported that three servicemen died and two aircraft were lightly damaged in the explosions. Ukraine has not yet responded.
Monday’s missile strikes are likely to require another round of emergency repairs for Ukraine’s hard-pressed electrical engineers, often to facilities repeatedly targeted in recent weeks.
A few days prior to today’s strikes, Kyiv officials discussed switching from highly disruptive emergency blackouts to more manageable scheduled power cuts, which would provide some predictability to the citizens.
While those plans may now be put on hold, Monday’s damage appears to be less extensive than previous attacks.
An apparent absence of Iranian-made “kamikaze” drones is another striking feature of the latest Russian strikes.
Another Ukrainian military official said Russia was unable to deploy its unmanned vehicles due to cold weather.
Regardless, they have not been used since mid-November.