As people across the world celebrated Christmas and the first day of Hanukkah this Wednesday, missiles and drones tore through the sky in Ukraine, according to U.S. President Joe Biden.
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“In the early hours of Christmas, Russia launched waves of missiles and drones against Ukrainian cities and critical energy infrastructure,” said the president in a Wednesday statement. “The purpose of this outrageous attack was to cut off the Ukrainian people’s access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardize the safety of its grid.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Wednesday statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin “consciously chose Christmas to attack,” with over 70 missiles and more than 100 strike drones.
“What could be more inhuman?” he said.
That same day, Flight J2-8243, an Embraer passenger jet headed from Azerbaijan capital Baku to Grozny in the Chechnya region of Russia, crashed down near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
According to four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan’s investigation into the disaster cited by Reuters, Russian air defenses down the plane. Reuters said that 38 people were killed in the crash and that photos appeared to show shrapnel damage to the plane.
“One of the Azerbaijani sources familiar with Azerbaijan’s investigation into the crash told Reuters that preliminary results showed the plane was struck by a Russian Pantsir-S air defense system,” the outlet reported. “Its communications were paralyzed by electronic warfare systems on the approach into Grozny, the source said.”
CNN reported that there were 67 total people on board the plane, that two pilots and one flight attendant were among those killed and that there were 29 survivors, including two children, citing Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev. Per the outlet, 37 of the passengers were Azerbaijan citizens, 16 were from Russia, six were from Kazakhstan and three from Kyrgyzstan, based on preliminary data from Kazakhstan’s transport ministry.
Flightradar reported that the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was exposed to GPS jamming and spoofing near Grozny.
“We are deeply saddened by the occurrence with an Embraer 190 today near Aktau, Kazakhstan,” said Embraer, a Brazilian aerospace company. “Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences go out to the families, friends, colleagues, and loved ones affected by this incident. We are closely monitoring the situation and we remain fully committed to supporting the relevant authorities.”
Russia began an invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, and some of the latest developments in the conflict have included Ukraine sending military drones to target Russia’s southern regions. Reuters said this has triggered Russian air defenses and that the Russian Defence Ministry reported the downing of 59 Ukrainian drones over several regions Wednesday.
“Some were reportedly shot down in closed air space over regions bordering Ukraine, including the Sea of Azov,” said Reuters. “Flight operations were reportedly temporarily suspended at Russia’s Kazan Airport due to the activity.”
In his Wednesday statement, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian defenders managed to shoot down more than 50 missiles and a significant portion of drones on Christmas.
“Unfortunately, there is a hit,” he said. “As of now, there are outages in several regions. Energy workers are working to restore light supply as quickly as possible,” adding that, “Russian evil will not break Ukraine and will not distort Christmas.”
Since the start of the invasion, the U.S. has sent support, including hundreds of air defense missiles, to Ukraine. Biden said the U.S. will continue to stand with Ukrainians in his own Christmas message.
“Let me be clear: the Ukrainian people deserve to live in peace and safety, and the United States and the international community must continue to stand with Ukraine until it triumphs over Russia’s aggression,” he said. Biden also said that he “directed the Department of Defense to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine.”
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