Russia hammers Ukraine with massive missile strike, forcing power cuts in dead of winter

Kyiv, Ukraine — Russia on Wednesday launched a major ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across Ukraine, targeting energy production and compelling authorities to shut down the power grid in some areas despite freezing winter weather, officials said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that it launched a strike on "critically important facilities of gas and energy infrastructure that ensure the functioning of Ukraine's military industrial complex." It didn't give the target locations or other details.

The barrage came a day after the Russian Defense Ministry vowed a response to what it said was an attack on Russian soil using multiple Western-supplied missiles. Kyiv hasn't confirmed that attack, though it said Tuesday that it hit an oil refinery and a fuel storage depot, a chemical plant producing ammunition and two anti-aircraft missile systems, in a missile and drone attack that reached almost 700 miles into Russia.