Zelensky asks for more Patriot missiles as Russia hits Ukrainian energy system very hard

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia's December 13 attack on the country's energy sector was one of the largest during the entire period of the conflict.

"One of the largest strikes on our energy sector," Zelensky wrote on his Telegram channel.

He also called on the world for a "strong response" and said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine needed more Patriot systems.

The Russian military launched a massive strike on Ukrainian energy facilities in response to Ukraine's attack on the airfield in Taganrog with ATACMS missiles, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

According to the ministry, the goals of the strike were achieved, all targets were hit.

In the morning of December 13, explosions thundered in Kyiv, Odessa, Khmelnytskyi, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions of Ukraine. The attack triggered emergency power outages and interruptions in water supplies.

Five of Ukraine's nine nuclear reactors reduced their capacity due to morning missile attack, the IAEA says.

The Russian Defense Ministry stressed that the strikes were only aimed at military and energy facilities in Ukraine, as well as their associated infrastructure.

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The MIM-104 Patriot is a mobile interceptor missile surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the primary such system used by the United States Army and several allied states. It is manufactured by the U.S. defense contractor Raytheon and derives its name from the radar component of the weapon system. The AN/MPQ-53 at the heart of the system is known as the "Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target," which is a backronym for "Patriot". In 1984, the Patriot system began to replace the Nike Hercules system as the U.S. Army's primary high to medium air defense (HIMAD) system and the MIM-23 Hawk system as the U.S. Army's medium tactical air defense system. In addition to these roles, Patriot has been given a function in the U.S. Army's anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system. As of 2016, the system is expected to stay fielded until at least 2040.