UK Defense Ministry: Russia likely to strike at Ukraine over holidays to undermine people's morale
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According to the U.K. Defense Ministry, though Russia has sustained a general pattern of conducting an intensive wave of long-range strikes across Ukraine every 7-10 days, it is likely to break this pattern over the winter holidays.
In its daily update posted on Dec. 31, the ministry said there is a “realistic possibility" that Russia will strike again in the coming days "to undermine the morale of the Ukrainian population over the new year holiday period.”
Russia has been targeting Ukraine's critical infrastructure with repeated attacks for nearly two months. Since Oct. 10, Moscow has launched eight large-scale missile strikes across Ukraine, as well as multiple drone attacks. The strikes killed dozens of civilians and inflicted severe damage on the energy system, causing power, water, and heating cut-offs.
In its latest mass strike on Dec. 29, Russia launched 69 missiles at targets across Ukraine, according to Chief Commander Valerii Zaluzhnyi. Air defense downed 54 of them.
