Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the morning of Dec. 17 that power had been restored for “two-thirds” of Kyiv residents, central heating – for half of the capital’s population, and water supply – for all of them. Also, Kyiv metro system resumed operating at 7:30 a.m.
Utilities like water and power had been out since the morning of Dec. 16 due to the power outages caused by Russia's large-scale missile attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure that day. The metro stopped operating for the whole day, with underground stations working only as shelters for civilians.
Russia launched 76 cruise missiles at targets across Ukraine, killing at least four civilians, including a 1-year-old child, and hitting scores of energy infrastructure sites in a coordinated attack. Sixty of these missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defense. The Air Force reported they were cruise missiles of the Kh-555, Kh-101, and Kalibr type.
Approximately 40 of the 76 missiles appeared to be targeting Kyiv. Ukraine’s Air Force managed to shoot down 37 of them, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration.
It was seventh such attack since mid-October.
Following the attack, Ukraine’s state grid operator Ukrenergo said that Russian missiles targeted railway networks and power generation facilities.
“The electricity shortage in the system, which was substantial even before that, has significantly increased,” Ukrenergo said.
