Russia Pledges to 'Never' Run Out of Rockets After Launching Massive Strike

Russia's Ministry of Defense pledged that it will "never" run out of missiles after the country launched a barrage of missiles in Ukraine earlier on Thursday amid the ongoing war in the Eastern European country.

The ministry was responding to claims by Western intelligence and military that Moscow is struggling in its fight against Ukraine, The Moscow Times reported.

"We will never run out of Kalibrs," the ministry said on Telegram in an apparent reference to the missile strikes it launched in Ukraine as a response to an explosion on the Kerch bridge connecting the Taman Peninsula of Krasnodar Krai in Russia to with the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

Ukraine has been heavily struck by Russian missiles on Thursday as Russian President Vladimir Putin's army targeted some Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Lviv near the Poland boarder, and the southwestern city of Odesa.

The Ukrainian military said it shot down 54 missiles out of 69 fired by Russia, Reuters reported. Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeted that "the downing of 54 missiles saved the lives of dozens of people & protected key parts of our economic infrastructure."

Air raid sirens rang out across the Eastern European country, and were ongoing for five hours in Kyiv.

Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that 16 missiles were shot down and three people were wounded in the strikes.

The Russian missile attacks left nearly half of Kyiv's population without power, Klitschko said on Thursday, according to The Moscow Times, adding that "forty percent of the capital's consumers are without electricity after the Russian attack."

The missile strikes impacted other cities as well with Lviv's Mayor Andriy Sadovyi saying on Telegram that 90 percent of the city plunged into a power outage because the missiles destroyed an energy facility.

"Trams and trolleybuses do not run in the city. There may be interruptions with water supply. We are moving on to the work of diesel generators at critical infrastructure facilities. Stay in shelters," Sadovyi added.

Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukrainian energy facilities during its fight with Ukraine. In November, it attacked Ukraine's grid, killing three people in a strike that hit a building in Kyiv, according to city officials. Power outages were also reported in other cities at a time when the Eastern European country was gearing up for winter.

Meanwhile on Thursday, the fragments of one missile struck a residential building in Odesa, according to Governor Maksym Marchenko, but no casualties were reported, according to Reuters.

"Senseless barbarism. These are the only words that come to mind seeing Russia launch another missile barrage at peaceful Ukrainian cities ahead of New Year," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted in a reaction to the Russian attacks. "There can be no 'neutrality' in the face of such mass war crimes. Pretending to be 'neutral' equals taking Russia's side."

Newsweek reached out to the Russian and Ukrainian foreign affairs ministries for comment.