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EU defense commissioner takes shelter in Kyiv amid massive Russian aerial strike

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EU defense commissioner takes shelter in Kyiv amid massive Russian aerial strike
EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova (L) and EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Dec. 13, 2024. (Katarina Mathernova/X)

Andrius Kubilius, the newly appointed European defense commissioner, spent the morning of Dec. 13 in a shelter in Kyiv during a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack, EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova said on X.

Russia targeted Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, launching at least 93 ballistic and cruise missiles and over 200 drones, Mathernova said.

Ukrainian defenses shot down 81 out of 94 missiles and 80 out of the 193 drones launched by Russia, the Air Force reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described it as "one of the largest strikes on our energy grid."

Eighty-one missiles were intercepted, including 11 shot down by Ukraine's F-16 fighter jets. Zelensky noted that some of the missiles used in the attack were reportedly supplied by North Korea.

The strikes, which focused on energy and transportation networks, mark another escalation in Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine's infrastructure.

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Tim Zadorozhnyy

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Tim Zadorozhnyy is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent covering foreign policy, U.S.-Ukraine relations, and political developments across Europe and Russia. He studied International Relations and European Studies at Lazarski University and Coventry University. Tim began his journalism career in Odesa in 2022 as a reporter for a local television channel. He later spent a year and a half at the Belarusian independent media outlet NEXTA, first as a news anchor and later as a managing editor. He is fluent in English, Ukrainian, and Russian.

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