Mindful choice of date: Zelensky responded to Russia's Christmas attack, revealing the number of missiles launched.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, commented on the combined massive attack that Russia carried out on Christmas. He reported that the Russians launched over 70 missiles and more than a hundred drones. According to preliminary information, the air defense systems destroyed 50 missiles and a significant portion of the UAVs.

Zelensky shared this on his social media. He emphasized that each Russian massive strike requires time for preparation and is never a spontaneous decision. According to him, the attack on December 25 is a deliberate choice not only of targets but also of timing and date.

"Today (December 25 - ed.) Putin consciously chose Christmas for the attack. What could be more inhumane? Over 70 missiles, including ballistic ones, and more than a hundred strike drones. The targets are our energy infrastructure. They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine," the president stated.

According to preliminary data, Ukrainian defenders managed to shoot down over 50 missiles and a significant number of drones. Unfortunately, there have been hits. Currently, there are outages in several regions. Energy workers are working to restore power supply as quickly as possible, Zelensky said.

"I thank everyone who is currently working for the country, who is on combat duty, who is defending our sky. We will restore everything to the maximum. Russian evil will not break Ukraine and will not distort Christmas," the head of state declared.

Massive Attack on December 25, 2024

Around 5 a.m. on Wednesday, December 25, Russia launched cruise missiles from strategic aviation. Approximately at 6 a.m., the enemy struck with ballistic missiles. A launch of Caliber missiles from the Black Sea was also recorded. At the same time, Shahed drones were in the airspace of Ukraine. Some missiles reached the western part of the country.

As a result of the strikes in Ukraine on Wednesday, December 25, Ukrenergo introduced hourly blackout schedules. Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko emphasized that the energy system of Ukraine was under attack from Russia.

Before the attack, it was planned to celebrate Christmas without power outages. On December 24, the director of energy programs at the Razumkov Center, Volodymyr Omelychenko, stated that no power outages were anticipated for Christmas. He added that on the eve, December 23, some emergency damages had been resolved, and there were currently no such problems.

However, Omelychenko emphasized that this was on the condition that there would not be a powerful assault on the energy sector by the enemy. The specialist also noted that the blackout schedules could return if the average daily temperature dropped to -7°C.