According to Reuters, on January 15 local time, Russia attacked a series of energy and gas infrastructure in western Ukraine with missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), in the context of Kiev's power system being overloaded due to people's increased heating needs in winter.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the airstrikes took place in two waves, with Russia launching about 40 missiles on the morning of January 15 (local time) and continuing to deploy a UAV squadron of about 70 in the evening of the same day.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Kiev's air defense system shot down 30 missiles and 47 UAVs. The remaining UAVs were said to have been disabled electronically by the Ukrainian military.
According to Reuters, several other locations in the capital Kiev were also attacked on January 15. People had to take shelter in the metro system throughout the city and wait until the airstrikes passed.
The Lviv region government in western Ukraine said that two energy facilities on Drohobych and Stryi streets were affected. The air force continued to report that other gas infrastructure in Kharkiv region was also attacked.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the January 15 airstrike was in response to Ukraine's previous aggression.
On January 14, Ukraine launched a series of missiles into Russian territory, including 6 ATACMS ballistic missiles made in the US, 6 Storm Shadow cruise missiles made in the UK and a squadron of UAVs, the largest scale that Kiev has ever deployed.
The purpose of the January 14 Ukrainian attack is unclear. However, Kiev claimed that the missiles entered Russian territory 1,000 km and the main targets were oil depots, refineries, chemical plants and ammunition production facilities in the Bryansk, Saratov, Tula and Tatarstan regions.
