In remarks to Russian journalists on Thursday evening, President Vladimir Putin confirmed that missile and drone strikes against the Ukraine’s military infrastructure and the electricity grid carried out on Thursday, and also earlier in the week, are the retaliation the Defense Ministry foreshadowed for the November 23-25 ATACMS strikes on Kursk.
Detailed target and damage reports by Russian military bloggers published between noon and 13:00 Moscow time, indicate that strikes by Kalibr and Kh-101 missiles, drones, and other weapons hit targets across the country’s electricity system, including the western regions of Rivne, Khmelnitsky, Volyn, and Vynnitsa. Power blackouts in the Ukraine were reported to be widespread from the line of combat in the east to the Polish border in the west, with up to eleven hours of power outage in Kiev where the temperature has dropped below freezing.
President Putin followed in remarks to Russian reporters at the conclusion of his two-day meetings in Astana, Kazakhstan, in a session posted by the Kremlin at 17:15. Asked several questions about the use of the Oreshnik missile in Russian retaliation for the ATACMS strikes on Kursk on November 23 and 25, Putin quipped that it is being saved for a rainy day.
“It would be futile to target a minor objective with a hypersonic missile; that’s like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. However, we will utilise our entire arsenal against significant targets. As I have previously mentioned, we do not rule out the combat employment of Oreshnik on military-industrial facilities or command centres, including those in Kiev.”
The earlier ATACMS attacks, Putin said, “received a response today. Our Armed Forces have been executing retaliatory strikes over the past couple of days. Today, there was a comprehensive operation: 90 missiles were deployed alongside 100 unmanned strike vehicles. Seventeen targets within Ukraine were struck, encompassing military, military-industrial, and auxiliary facilities which support the armed forces and industrial defence enterprises. I wish to reiterate once more: we will certainly respond to such acts of aggression against the Russian Federation. The timing, methods, and weapons employed will be determined by the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense, as each target necessitates a specific approach and appropriate weaponry.”
Asked again about Oreshnik, “do you think these strikes on the [Kiev decision-making] centres are also possible with Oreshnik because nothing else seems to be able to get it?” Putin replied: “You know, in Soviet times there was that joke about weather forecasts. ‘The forecast is: Everything is possible today during the day.’ ”
The president was followed on Thursday evening, Moscow time, by a detailed Defense Ministry bulletin announcing “in response to the strikes of the Kiev regime in the depths of the territory of Russia, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during this week carried out strikes on the locations of the systems of long-range western weapons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” Details of the targets followed, including US and French military personnel reported killed while directing Ukrainian missile operations in bunkers at Kharkov and Odessa.
Putin’s remarks on the Oreshnik can be watched and read in full here.
The 56-minute press conference is at http://kremlin.ru/
Putin also responded to a question about the incoming Trump Administration. “If the current President Biden believes that in aggravating the [Ukraine war] situation, he is increasing the degree of confrontation, creating obstacles for the future administration, it is easy to get out of this situation, because the newly elected president will say: ‘It’s not me, it’s him…I have nothing to do with it. Let’s talk.’…This version is possible that the current administration wants to create additional difficulties for the future… But, as far as I understand the newly elected president, he’s still a smart man and already experienced enough, he with me It seems that a solution will be found… The [US] is a great country. Definitely. We are ready for dialogue with the United States, including the future administration.”
The Defense Ministry bulletin on Thursday night identified as targets US-made ATACMS launchers in the Sumy region and anti-ship missiles and their launchers in the Odessa region; Iskander missiles were used in these strikes.
The Ministry also disclosed that it has targeted US and French military personnel in Kharkov and Odessa . “On 25 November as a result of a missile strike on the Kraken headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) in the city of Kharkov, up to 40 foreign specialists, mainly from the United States, were killed. In the city of Odessa, an Iskander strike hit the location of a temporary deployment of a unit of the special operations centre responsible for combat direction and control of sea drones, killing 72 personnel including nine French instructors and technicians.”
The Russian strike against the French is also retaliation against the new French operation in the Black Sea to plan and direct missile and drone attacks against Russian shipping at sea, and land targets in the Crimea. For more details, read this Italian report, dated November 27.
Source: https://www.itamilradar.com/
The Defense Ministry confirmed that the Thursday morning strike hit “the objects of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine and the energy infrastructure which ensures their operation.” In total over the week until Thursday, the military report said, 100 missiles of various types and 466 Geranium-2 drones had been fired. In Thursday’s strike another 90 missiles and 100 Geranium-2 drones were launched and “hit 17 key objects of the military industry of Ukraine. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will continue to monitor airfields, assembly areas, and routes for the movement of materiel for using long-range western weapons, and inflict fire on them.”
Follow earlier Russian electric war operations here.
Thursday’s raid has followed this one, eleven days earlier on Sunday, November 17.
Source: https://johnhelmer.net/ republishing from Colonel Cassad.
Details of today’s electric war targets have been reported by several Russian military bloggers. Click for more here. https://t.me/s/don_partizan
A NATO veteran in electrical engineering for combat operations comments on the results of the new electric war raid. “The strikes centered around Rivne tell us that the substations around the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant were targeted. The power outages are widespread. If it’s true that cluster munitions were used, it means that various equipment and components have been damaged or destroyed. Note that even if a missile or drone is intercepted above or close to the substations, the debris will cause damage to the gear and, potentially, there will be fires due to ignition of the oil inside the transformers and breakers. This is significant as the damage is not limited to the transformers and oil circuit breakers. Switchgear, high voltage switches, breakers, and associated protection and control devices are being smashed or reduced to slag.”
“Due to the cumulative impact of multiple electric war strikes, we can bet the Ukrainians are desperately short of spare parts and that the weather is complicating repairs.”
KIEV WEATHER FORECAST, THURSDAY-FRIDAY
Source: https://www.accuweather.com/
POWER SHUTDOWN SCHEDULES FOR KIEV, DTEK NOTICE FOR FRIDAY
Source: https://t.me/dtek_ua/2027
The military engineer explains: “In Kiev [national electric utility] DTEK is showing eight to eleven hours in total time off, depending on the zone. Most of the off-periods are four or five hours in duration. In that time things are going to freeze. What’s worse for the Ukrainians is that they’ll all be watching the clock, eager to get their heat on, use appliances, chargers, computers and washroom facilities, at the same time as the power comes back on. There will be tremendous strain on the remaining transformers and generators when that happens.”
“It’s a certainty that the electricians have been told to crank up the settings on breakers and other protective devices, so they don’t trip up due to the surge. This is loaded with risk because, if there is an over-current or short circuit fault, the remaining equipment in working condition could be damaged. The gear is quite specialized and complicated in terms of construction. The oil-filled transformers and breakers are certain to be causing powerful fires and secondary explosions that are destroying surrounding electrical infrastructure. Transformer oil burns very hot, which means most of the auxiliary equipment – that’s protection relays, metal enclosed switchgear, bus connections, and switches — will be slag.”
“In terms of the non-nuclear deterrent which the General Staff and the Kremlin have available, the electric war ranks on top. It’s the non-nuclear nuclear option. The Russian weaponry does not have to be as technically advanced as the Oreshnik in order to destroy the Ukrainian power grid infrastructure which in its vertically integrated structure is extremely vulnerable. Truly, there is no way to protect a state from this kind of attack and recovery will take years. What happens in the meantime? Well, that’s the rainy day Putin has just mentioned, and tomorrow the forecast for Kiev is rain.”
