Russia has acknowledged that it launched massive strikes against Ukraine's military command and the nation's energy facilities. But it denies that it carried out attacks on the capital Kyiv.

Russia's defense ministry made the admission on Thursday. That was one day after energy and medical facilities were hit in Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine.

The ministry denied that Russia's forces had attacked targets in Kyiv. It claimed that missiles fired by Ukraine's air defense systems fell in residential areas in the city.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, "The leadership of Ukraine has every opportunity to bring the situation back to normal in such a way as to fulfill the requirements of the Russian side."

The attacks prompted Ukraine's state-run utility Ukrenergo to implement emergency power cuts across the country. That has made life very difficult for people, as the weather is very cold.

The firm said its priority is to provide power, so that people can have water and heat. The mayor of Kyiv announced on social media that water supplies have already been restored across the city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described Russia's attacks as "energy terror." He said in a message on social media that his "invincible nation will overcome all challenges and ultimately prevail."

The Ukrainian defense ministry's intelligence agency has reported that Russia still has a lot of non-high-precision missiles. It has also said that Russia will mount massive missile attacks on Ukraine about once a week.

The agency is warning that Moscow will continue to attack civilian infrastructure and hospitals, mainly in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine.