Putin's claim of responding to strikes in Russia is deliberately misleadingpublished at 11:21 Greenwich Mean Time 28 November 2024

11:21 GMT 28 November 2024

Sarah Rainsford
BBC Eastern Europe Correspondent in Warsaw

This is the second massive strike on Ukraine in a month and it seems Russia is turning up the pressure to try to push home its current military advantage.

It wants to force Ukraine – or get the new Trump administration to force Ukraine – to the negotiating table in the weakest possible position for any talks.

The strikes are meant to send a message of Russian strength and decisiveness: to Washington as well as Kyiv.

So Vladimir Putin’s claim of "responding" to strikes on Russia is deliberately misleading.

It was Russia that launched an unprovoked war on Ukraine, which has the legal right to self-defence.

It's also important to remember that the last big attack was on 17 November, before Ukraine used any Western-made longer-range missiles against Russia.

Russia’s aim, as always, is to pummel Ukraine into submission.

Putin also spoke in detail about Russia's arms production, claiming the country produces 10 times more missiles than all Nato countries, and adding that in 2025 their production of long-range missiles will grow by 25-30%.

The president also said Russia has several other systems similar to Oreshnik - the new ballistic missile it used to attack Ukraine last week - ready for use.

In the event of a massive use of Oreshnik missiles in one strike, its power will be comparable to the use of nuclear weapons, he claimed, adding that they plan to continue combat tests for the missile in response to "enemy actions".

We can bring you some more now from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who spoke for the first time after last night's strikes, during a visit to a summit in Kazakhstan.

"We carried out a comprehensive strike," he said, saying that 17 military facilities on Ukrainian territory had been hit.

He said Russia has launched 100 missiles and 466 drones at Ukraine over the past two days.

He added that decision-making centres in Kyiv could become a target for Oreshnik - the new ballistic missile Russia used to attack the Ukrainian city of Dnipro last week.

Image source, KREMLIN POOL

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia struck Ukraine with 90 missiles and 100 drones overnight in response to Ukraine's attacks with UK and US weapons last week.

He said Russia is selecting targets in Ukraine that could include decision-making centres in Kyiv.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky gave the same figures in a statement he made earlier, saying cluster munitions were used specifically against civilian infrastructure.

Ukraine used UK and US weapons to strike Russian territory for the first time last week, which prompted retaliatory strikes from Russia.

We're now getting some of the first images of areas hit by Russia's overnight strikes in Ukraine.

In the pictures below, firefighters attend the site of a missile strike in Lutsk, Volyn, in the northwest, where we earlier reported blackouts.

About 215,000 people are currently without power in Volyn, according to regional officials.

Image source, State Emergency Service of Ukraine

Image source, State Emergency Service of Ukraine

Image source, Reuters

If you're just joining us, or are in need of a recap, here's what's happened so far:

• Russia launched a drone and missile attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure last night, with explosions heard across the country
• More than one million people are currently without power, as energy suppliers have taken preventative safety measures
• Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a "vile escalation", saying cluster munitions had been used
• He says an estimated 100 strike drones and more than 90 missiles of different types were used

• This is the second attack on the country's energy system this month, writes the BBC's Paul Adams in Ukraine, as winter approaches

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has just made his first comments since Russia's overnight attack.

"The target is our energy sector," he says in a post on Telegram, with the attack involving about "about 100 strike drones, more than 90 missiles of different types".

"In several regions, Kalibr [missiles] with cluster munitions were used specifically against civilian infrastructure.

"These cluster munitions make it significantly more difficult for our rescuers and energy workers to eliminate the impact of the strikes, and this is a vile escalation of Russian terrorist tactics."

Zelenksy adds that the latest attacks prove the need for Ukraine to have adequate air defence systems.

Ukraine disconnected several nuclear power units from the network amid Russian attacks onenergy infrastructure on Thursday, a Ukrainian energy industry source told Reuters.

Ukraine operates four nuclear power plants with 15 reactors.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
BBC Monitoring's Russia editor

While the authorities in Kyiv say all missiles targeting the Ukrainian capital were intercepted, damage is being reported from surrounding areas.

An unnamed "infrastructure facility" has been hit in one location outside Kyiv and "a private house, a non-residential building and a hangar-type structure" in another, the regional administration says, external, adding two people sought medical help.

And in a statement, external, the Ukrainian air force says out of 188 “aerial means of attack” - missiles and drones - launched by Russia, it intercepted 76 Kalibr cruise missiles, three Kh-59/Kh-69 missiles and 35 drones.

"The enemy’s missile and drone attack targeted Ukraine’s energy facilities," the statement says.

Ukraine's ministry of energy says engineers are starting to restore energy to areas with power outages, after what authorities say was Russia's eleventh attack on civilian energy infrastructure this year.

"Power engineers are working to ensure backup power supplies wherever possible," the ministry says, adding they have "already started restoration work where the security situation allows".

"Assessment of the extent of damage is ongoing," it says in a post on Telegram.

We've also just received an update on the situation in the Rivne region in western Ukraine, where we earlier reported that power was cut for more than 280,000 people.

"Within the next hour, power engineers will start restoring power supply," says Oleksandr Koval, head of the Rivne administration, with the first priority on "critical infrastructure".

Ukraine's military telegram channel has shared a forecast from the country's state-owned energy operator, Ukrenergo, which says emergency energy shutdowns could last until 20:00 local time (18:00 GMT) this evening.

The general director of the electricity supplier Yasno, Sergey Kovalenko, said the situation with the power system is difficult.

Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to be without power following last night's attacks.

Local officials in Lviv, Rivne and Volyn have estimated that at least one million people are experiencing power cuts.

We've just heard from Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun, who is in Kyiv, and says air raid alerts started at midnight last night.

She tells the BBC World Service's BBC Newsday programme that while Russian drone strikes have become a regular occurrence, last night's missile strikes hit unexpected parts of the country, including the western city of Lutsk - where we reported earlier about power cuts and transport disruption.

She adds that this is Russia's second large-scale attack on western Ukraine in a matter of days, adding that the western city of Ternopil was targeted just three days ago.

Sovsun describes last night's attack as "massive" and estimates that roughly half of the people living in Kyiv are experiencing power cuts at the moment as a preventative measure. She adds that she doesn't currently have access to water.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
BBC Monitoring's Russia editor

All of the missiles and drones used by Russia to attack Kyiv were intercepted, external, but falling debris has caused minor damage, the city’s military administration says.

According to it, the attack lasted almost nine and a half hours.

Zhanna Bezpiatchuk
BBC Ukrainian Service, reporting from Kyiv

The capital has been under this massive missile attack - I woke up myself to very loud explosions.

Residents have experienced drone attacks almost every night in the Ukrainian capital since October, but this latest attack was different as it involved missiles.

Everything is disrupted when there's massive missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.

People don't know if it's possible to follow their schedules, children don't go to school - unfortunately, it repeats again and again.

Right now, we have emergency power cuts in Kyiv - we don't know how long it's going to last.

Many have their own power generators or portable power stations, that can allow you to charge your devices, to cook, to warm up a little.

Ukraine heavily depends on generators for industry, schools, hospitals, all critical infrastructure as well as households - and it really helps.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
BBC Monitoring's Russia editor

Kherson, a major regional centre in southern Ukraine, has also been left without electricity, external in the wake of the Russian missile attack this morning, local authorities say. Reports indicate that the power outage has interrupted water supplies to at least parts of the city.

Journalist Kateryna Malofieieva describes hearing missiles and activated air defence systems in the Ukrainian capital.

The Ukrainian air force earlier today issued a nationwide air raid warning "due to the threat of missile danger".

We've just received an update that the air alert has now ended.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
BBC Monitoring's Russia editor

Some 523,000 consumers - households and companies - have been left without electricity i, externaln Ukraine's western Lviv region, local administration head Maksym Kozytsky says.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
BBC Monitoring's Russia editor

Electricity supplies have been cut in Zhytomyr, external, a city of about 260,000 people west of Kyiv, the local water supply company says.

No electricity means no running water, and the water company Zhytomyrvodokanal says it's trying to connect its pumps to generators.

Russia's defence ministry says the country's air defence systems destroyed 25 Ukrainian drones overnight over four regions.

Fourteen of the drones were destroyed over the Krasnodar region in the south, six over the western Bryansk region, three over Moscow-annexed Crimea and two over the southern Rostov region, the ministry said.

Krasnodar's regional governor, Veniamin Kondratyev, wrote on Telegram last night that two districts were subjected to a "massive drone attack" overnight. One civilian was injured, he said.