The sky over Zaporizhzhia turned into a hellscape as Russian forces launched a massive, multi-wave aerial assault that saw a staggering 737 strikes rain down on the region in a single day. Beginning late Thursday and stretching into the early hours of Friday, the bombardment targeted 27 different settlements with a relentless mix of drones, rocket barrages, and precision air strikes. In the heart of the city, residents watched in horror as a massive blaze engulfed a shopping center at 2:00 a.m., while emergency crews battled three separate fires triggered by falling debris that crushed cars and ripped through residential neighborhoods.
While the sheer volume of ordinance suggests a scorched-earth policy, the most shocking detail lies in what the missiles failed to hit. Ukrainian officials confirm that despite the unprecedented scale of the assault, the energy grid remains standing—defying a clear Kremlin strategy to freeze the population out during the New Year period. Though two civilians were left wounded in the wider region, the city of Zaporizhzhia miraculously reported no fatalities, even as firefighters navigated twisted metal and burning farm structures to contain the destruction. The failure to collapse the power supply marks a significant blow to the effectiveness of Russia’s winter campaign, even as the intensity of the shelling reaches a breaking point.
