In a statement issued on January 8, the US Embassy in Kiev said that a "massive air raid" from Russia could take place at any time in the coming days.
The US Embassy recommends that citizens and diplomatic staff prepare shelter options, showing that intelligence information about a high-intensity fire campaign from Russia is very clear.
Immediately after the announcement from the US side, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also confirmed this risk in a speech on the same evening. Mr. Zelensky acknowledged the possibility of another large-scale attack by Russia and asked people to pay special attention to air defense warning signals.
These rapid moves took place immediately after the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a tough statement, affirming that it would consider any foreign forces present in Ukraine as "legitimate targets" that need to be destroyed.
Reality at the scene in the early morning of January 9 shows that military activities have begun to increase. The Kiev military government recorded many attacks by Russian drones targeting infrastructure in the eastern bank of the Dnipro River and the city center. These were identified by military observers as exploratory strikes and damaging the air defense system before the main missile attacks were deployed as warned.
Ukraine's energy infrastructure system is currently under great pressure from Russian precision firepower. In the industrial region of Dnipropetrovsk, energy supplier DTEK reported that nearly 500,000 households are still in a state of complete power outages. The widespread destruction of the power grid has led to a water crisis.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba confirmed that more than 1.7 million households are facing domestic water difficulties because the pumping stations do not have electricity to operate.
In Kryvyi Rih city, Mr. Zelensky's hometown, local authorities also recorded heavy damage to facilities after missile bombardments.
On the Russian side, increasing firepower is seen as an inevitable and necessary response to protect national security. The Russian Ministry of Defense has repeatedly affirmed that air strikes are only thoroughly focused on defense industrial complexes, Western-sponsored weapons depots and energy infrastructure serving Kiev's apparatus.
This strong move took place immediately after Ukrainian forces carried out missile attacks on the Russian border region of Belgorod, disrupting the telecommunications system and threatening the safety of people here.
Russian officials declared that the country's army is taking full initiative on the battlefield and will continue to implement "non-militarization" measures to eliminate the enemy's offensive capabilities.
