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Many Ukrainians were celebrating without heat or power after Russia launched a <\/a>Christmas Day <\/a>assault<\/a> on the country\u2019s energy infrastructure<\/a>, an act that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned as \u201cinhuman.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cToday, Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhuman,\u201d Zelenskyy said in a post on X early Wednesday. “Every Russian massive strike takes time to prepare. It is never a spontaneous decision. It is a conscious choice not only of targets, but also of time and date.”<\/p>\n Over 70 Russian missiles and more than a hundred drones targeted Ukraine\u2019s energy infrastructure, with Ukrainian forces successfully shooting down more than 50 missiles and a significant number of drones, Zelenskyy added in his post.<\/p>\n Zelenskyy also said that the \u201ctargeted attack\u201d on the energy sector caused outages in several regions, including Kyiv, and emphasized that Russian forces \u201ccontinue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRussian evil will not break Ukraine and will not distort Christmas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Russia’s defense ministry confirmed the attacks.<\/p>\n \u201cThis morning, Russia’s Armed Forces carried out a massive strike with long-range precision weapons and strike drones on critical energy infrastructure facilities in Ukraine that ensure the operation of the military-industrial complex,” the ministry said in its daily briefing on Telegram.<\/p>\n \u201cThe strike\u2019s objective was achieved. All facilities were hit,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n \u201cThis Christmas terror is Putin\u2019s response to those who spoke about illusionary \u2018Christmas ceasefire\u2019,\u201d Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine\u2019s foreign minister, said in a post on X Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n The attack caused \u201cserious damage\u201d to thermal power plant equipment, according to DTEK, Ukraine’s largest energy company. Once the shelling stopped, energy sector workers began \u201crestoring the equipment\u201d to ensure a swift recovery, it said.<\/p>\n Ukraine\u2019s Energy Minister, Herman Hlushchenko, confirmed that Russia was \u201cmassively attacking the energy system,\u201d in a Telegram post on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n He urged the population to stay in shelters until the shelling stopped, adding that necessary measures had been implemented to \u201cminimize the negative consequences for the power system.\u201d<\/p>\n This marks Russia’s 13th attack on Ukraine\u2019s energy sector<\/a> this year, and the 10th attack on the company\u2019s energy enterprises, according to a post on DTEK’s official telegram account.<\/p>\n This marks only the second time in modern Ukrainian history that Christmas is officially celebrated on Dec. 25<\/a>, a significant shift away from the traditional Jan. 7 celebration<\/a> observed by Russians and other Eastern Orthodox Christians.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the second time in modern history, Christmas unites all Ukrainians,\u201d Zelenskyy said in an earlier post on X.<\/p>\n \u201cToday, we stand side by side. And we will not be lost,\u201d Zelenskyy said, adding, \u201cUkrainians are together today. And as long as we do this, evil has no chance.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Russian officials said Wednesday that four people had been killed and five injured in the partially occupied Kursk region after Ukrainian shelling.<\/p>\n The region\u2019s acting governor, Alexander Khinshtein, said in a post on Telegram that the gas and electricity supply in the town of Lgov had also been disrupted by the shelling.<\/p>\n This article was originally published on NBCNews.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n