Russia hits hard after UK pledges tanks, Ukraine says key infrastructure affected

Kyiv: After the UK pledged heavy tanks to Ukraine, Russia hit Ukraine with missiles causing civilian deaths on Saturday. Moscow was quick to react to Western support for Kyiv and said it will only "intensify" the conflict.

Officials said the latest wave of deadly Russian missiles hit the country as they were celebrating a popular holiday, the Old New Year. At least 12 people including a 15-year-old girl were killed. Dnipropetrovsk governor Valentyn Reznichenko said 64 people were wounded when an apartment building was hit in the eastern city of Dnipro. Seven children are among the injured and the youngest of them is three years old. 26 people have not been found, reported AFP.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it is not yet known how many people are under the rubble and death is growing every hour.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday pledged to provide Kyiv with heavy tanks as the Ukrainian government has been requesting them for a long time. Russia's embassy in the UK responded by saying that bringing tanks to the conflict zone will only serve to intensify combat operations, generating more casualties, including among the civilian population. Ukrainian President Zelensky on Saturday said the Russian terror can only be stopped on the battlefield. "This can and must be done on our land, in our sky, in our sea."

Ukraine's energy facilities operator Ukrenergo said a key infrastructure facility was hit but without critical destruction or fire. They are working on eliminating the consequences of the Russian strikes. This is the 12th massive missile attack on the energy sector of Ukraine. "The situation is complicated in Kharkiv and Lviv regions, where as a result of the attack there is partially no power supply, repair crews are already working to restore it," said Ukrenergo.

"The enemy launched another missile attack on critical infrastructure and industrial facilities in the northeastern Kharkiv region, said governor Oleg Synegubov. Energy minister German Galushchenko said most regions in the country had emergency blackouts. "Today the enemy attacked the country's energy generation facilities and power grid again. There are attacks in Kharkiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia, and Kyiv regions," he said.