Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: Ukraine says Russian attacks cause multiple explosions across country

KIEV/MOSCOW, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis:

Russian forces fired more than 40 missiles towards the Ukrainian capital on Friday, 37 of which were shot down, Mykhailo Shamanov, spokesman for the Kiev City Military Administration said.

"This was one of the most massive missile attacks since the start of a large-scale war," Shamanov was cited as saying by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

Public service workers have already launched efforts to eliminate the consequences of the attack, Shamanov said.

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Earlier on Friday, Kiev Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said on Telegram that there were explosions in the eastern Desnianskyi and Dniprovskyi districts and the southern Holosiivskyi district in Kiev.

The strikes disrupted water supplies in the Ukrainian capital and suspended the running of subway trains, Klitschko said.

The Kiev Regional Prosecutor's Office said on Telegram that two people were wounded as a result of the missile attacks in the Kiev region, which also damaged critical infrastructure facilities and private houses.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said that Russia fired about 60 missiles against Ukraine on Friday morning, according to Ukraine's government-run broadcaster Suspilne.

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On Friday, Russia launched a massive strike with high-precision long-range air- and sea-based weapons against Ukraine's military command and control systems, the military-industrial complex and the energy facilities that support them, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a daily report on Saturday.

As a result of the strike, the transfer of foreign-produced weapons and ammunition was disrupted, the delivery of reserves to the combat zones was blocked, and the production and repair of weapons, military equipment and ammunition was stopped, it said.

"Due to unprofessional actions of Ukrainian air defense crews, damage was caused to civilian infrastructure on the ground," the ministry said.

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Russian authorities said on Friday that drones used by Ukraine to attack Crimea and other Russian regions were manufactured by U.S. engineering services company Spektreworks.

After analyzing the electronic components of intercepted unmanned aerial vehicles used by Ukraine to attack Russian infrastructure facilities in different regions, the authorities found the drones have been tested in the U.S. state of Arizona, and finally assembled in Poland.

The Russian authorities thus confirmed the direct involvement of the United States and Poland in the conflict.

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Commenting on European leaders' approval of the ninth package of sanctions against Russia on Thursday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Friday that the EU's fresh anti-Russian sanctions will undermine the own economic interests of its member countries.

"It is impossible not to see that all these sanctions have a beneficiary -- the United States," he added.

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The West has imposed unprecedented sanctions against Russia in an attempt to crush its economy, wreck the ruble by stealing its foreign currency reserves, and provoke a devastating inflation in a short time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Presidential Council for Strategic Development and National Projects on Thursday.

"This plan has failed. The Russian business community and government bodies worked in a well-coordinated and professional manner, and our citizens displayed unity and responsibility. The government, the Bank of Russia and the Russian regions have stabilized the situation by pooling their efforts," he stressed.