The Kremlin says that Russia-annexed Crimea remains vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks after officials there said the Russian Navy had shot down a drone near its Sevastopol Black Sea Fleet naval base, and vowed to continue attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure that have left millions without electricity and water at the start of winter.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in late February, decimating large swathes of Ukraine's infrastructure in the process.
Russia has bombarded the country with waves of missile attacks in recent weeks, targeting mainly energy installations.
Speaking at a ceremony on December 8 to award military medals, Putin admitted to the strategy but blamed Ukraine for the devastation, claiming the strikes were a response to an attack on a Moscow-built bridge to Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.
He also accused Kyiv of blowing up power lines from the Kursk nuclear power plant and not supplying water to Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
In Crimea, a powerful explosion that rang out over the central part of Sevastopol early on December 8 was the result of the "downing of a drone" by a Russian Navy ship, said Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed administrator of the Black Sea port.
He did not specify whom the drone belonged to.
Starting in August, Sevastopol has been targeted several times by explosions that Russian authorities say were caused by Ukrainian drone attacks.
"There are certainly risks because the Ukrainian side continues its policy of organizing terrorist attacks. But, on the other hand, information we get indicates that effective countermeasures are being taken," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
In the east, the General Staff of Ukraine's military said on December 8 that Russian forces continued their relentless rocket attacks and bombardments on Ukrainian positions in Donetsk, with a particular focus on the towns of Bakhmut and Avdiyivka, and Luhansk, where Moscow's offensive was concentrated around Stelmakhyivka and Ploschanka.
In the northeastern region of Kharkiv, Russians attacked Ternova, a village several kilometers from the Russian border.
The Ukrainian military also said Russian occupiers began to mobilize local people in Melitopol in Zaporizhzhya.
Mobilization orders are being issued there to "men of draft age with the requirement to come to the military commissariat in the near future," the military said.
On December 7, a Russian attack on the town of Kurakhovo in Donetsk killed 10 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
In Photos: The Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has been described as a "meat grinder" due to being on the forefront of trench warfare, shelling, and assaults that have killed an untold number of soldiers and civilians.
Battle For Bakhmut: Ukrainian City Endures Freezing Temperatures As Shelling And Fighting Rages
Zelenskiy said the attack was "very brutal" and "absolutely calculated" and killed "peaceful people, ordinary people" at a market, a grain elevator, a gas station, a bus stop, and a residential building.
"The list of the dead so far includes 10 people and many others wounded."
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine's presidential administration, said the Russian troops shelled Kurakhovo from multiple-rocket launchers. The town has been among the hot spots in fighting in the Donbas region.
Tymoshenko posted video footage of buildings in flames on Telegram.
The chief of Ukrenerho said on December 7 that Russian forces have fired more than 1,000 rockets and missiles at Ukraine's power grid since the start of the war.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned of an "apocalypse" scenario for the city this winter if Russian air strikes on infrastructure continue.
