Ukraine - New Russian strikes (16 December 2022)

France utterly condemns the Russian missile attacks across the entire territory of Ukraine on 16 December. Once again, these strikes deliberately targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing severe power and heating outages.

The shelling, which was not aimed at a military target, damaged critical civilian infrastructure and interrupted metro traffic in Kyiv. This systematic targeting of civilians in the middle of winter reflects a clear desire on the part of Russia to make the Ukrainian people suffer by depriving them of water, heating and electricity to undermine their resilience.

These acts constitute war crimes and in no way weaken France’s resolve to support Ukraine and fight impunity.

France will continue to stand by Ukraine, as it has demonstrated by organizing, jointly with the Ukrainian government, the "Solidarity with the Ukrainian people" conference held on 13 December, which raised more than one billion euros to provide concrete assistance to help the Ukrainian people face the winter.