Ukraine's deputy interior minister says some 50 missiles have been launched at Ukraine

Ukrainian Deputy Interior Minister Yevhen Yenin said Russia launched on Friday (December 16) some 50 missiles in a morning attack on Ukraine, during his visit to Donetsk region.

"Our anti-missile system works quite well, but due to the high quantity of cruise missiles launched by the Russian Federation, we still face some difficulties," he added.

Later on Friday, the commander in chief of the Ukrainian armed forces said Ukraine shot down 60 out of the 76 missiles fired at it by Russia.

Russia pounded energy facilities across Ukraine with dozens of missiles Friday morning, killing at least two people, knocking out electricity in some areas and forcing Kyiv to introduce emergency power cuts across the whole country.

The latest in a series of big waves of missile strikes since October hammered critical infrastructure and drove people into shelters as residential areas also came under fire.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February, Moscow says attacks on basic infrastructure are militarily legitimate. Ukraine says attacks intended to cause civilian misery are a war crime.

"Attacking our energy infrastructure, making the people suffer during the wintertime, that's a genocide of our Ukrainian nation," Yenin stated.