This morning, Russia launched a major airstrike in Ukraine, during which dozens of cruise missiles and hundreds of drones were launched.

The Russian military targeted Ukraine's power grid, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko wrote on his Facebook page. "The enemy continues his terror," he said.

A source close to the electricity supplier said the target of Friday's attack was Ukraine's power plants and that more gas infrastructure was targeted than in previous attacks.

Because of the ferocity of the attack, energy officials announced longer and more urgent power outages, but did not specify whether this was due to precautionary measures or new damage. There are no reports of casualties.

The director of the electricity company Jasno said that this morning about half of the 3.5 million consumers were left without electricity. It is difficult to assess the extent of the damage.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also spoke about the attack, saying around 90 missiles and around 200 drones were launched in the attack in "one of the biggest attacks on the energy grid". Zelensky added that 81 missiles were shot down, including 11 shot down by Ukrainian F-16 fighter jets sent from Western countries.

"This is Putin's "peace plan" - to destroy everything. This is how he wants "negotiations" - terrorizing millions of people. It is neither limited to long-range capabilities nor to obtaining the components needed to build missiles. Oil gives Putin enough money to believe in his impunity. A strong reaction from the world is needed: a massive attack must be met with a massive reaction. Only in this way can terror be stopped.

If leaders are afraid to respond or become accustomed to terror, Putin sees that as permission to continue. Patriots are needed to shoot down these missiles and prove that terror will not achieve its goals. Sanctions against Russia for war must be strengthened to really affect Russia's missile production.

Putin will not be stopped by idle talk - force is what is needed to bring peace. The force that is not afraid of its ability to face and stop evil. The world can stop this madness, and to do so, it must first stop the madness in Moscow that has ordered terror for over 20 years. Strength is what is needed. Ukraine is grateful to all those who are helping," Zelensky wrote in X.

Russia is also said to have used Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles against the western regions of Ukraine. This morning's airstrike is the latest in a series of similar attacks, which have raised fears that the Kremlin intends to cripple the country's power generation capacity as winter approaches.

"Russia wants to deprive us of electricity and we must deprive them of what they are attacking us from. I repeat the call for the immediate delivery of 20 NASAMS, HAWK or IRIS-T air defense systems," wrote the minister of Outside Andrij Sibiha in X.

Since the start of an all-out invasion in February 2022, Russia has relentlessly hammered Ukraine's energy system, resulting in continuous shutdowns of heating and drinking water supplies during the winter months, in an apparent attempt to break Ukraine's resolve. .