Ministry reports power outages in 455 settlements due to weather, Russian attacks.

Power outages have been recorded in 455 settlements across nine Ukrainian oblasts as of Dec.

10, according to the Energy Ministry.   The most difficult situation situation was reported in front-line Donetsk Oblast, where 121 settlements remain without power, the ministry said. Repairs are underway there.

Bad weather and Russian attacks have left over 80 settlements without power in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. In Kherson Oblast, power outages have been reported in 45 settlements due to Russian attacks, the ministry said. Power outages have also been recorded in Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, and Chernihiv oblasts.

As the cold weather sets in, Russia has ramped up its attacks against energy infrastructure in areas close to the front lines. Last fall and winter, Russian troops launched widespread attacks on the country's energy system, nearly causing its collapse in some areas. Earlier on Dec.

7, the Energy Ministry reported that Russian troops struck a thermal power plant in one of Ukraine's front-line regions, causing a shutdown of two power units. The shutdown, combined with decreased temperatures, led to a power deficit in Ukraine's energy system, according to the ministry. Ukraine's energy companies do not generally disclose the exact locations of facilities targeted by Russian attacks, presumably to avoid giving up sensitive information about the country's critical infrastructure.

UK Defense Ministry: Russia's Dec.

7 strike likely start of campaign against energy infrastructure

In its intelligence bulletin on X, the Defense Ministry said that Russian forces had likely used Tu-95 planes to fire Kh-101 air-launched cruise missiles on Dec.

7 - the first time they were used since Sept.

21.