Ukraine Uses US-Made F-16s to Fight Back as Russia Targets Energy Grid in Massive Attack

PHOTO: A Ukrainian Air Force F-16 fighter jet (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Ukraine's president said for the first time that his country's air force used American-made F-16 fighter jets to intercept a barrage of Russian missiles and drones in recent days.

On Tuesday, Russia launched a massive strike on Ukraine's energy grid.

"The Russians continue to try to destroy Ukrainian critical infrastructure," John Hardie with the Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told CBN News. "Since March, they focused especially on Ukrainian electricity production capacity and have really devastated that capacity."

Two days of relentless bombing saw Russia deploy more than 100 missiles and a similar number of drones across Ukraine killing seven and injuring more than a dozen. It was one of Moscow's biggest attacks since war started 30 months ago.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is continuing to push the Biden administration to give his forces the military capability to strike Russia back.

"Each of these strikes repeatedly brings us back to the task of long-range capabilities - the need to provide our defense forces with enough long-range weapons that can destroy terrorists exactly in the areas of their strikes," Zelensky said Tuesday.

The pounding came at a key moment in the war as Ukraine now holds nearly 500 miles of territory in Russia's western Kursk region following a daring cross-border assault a month ago.

The unexpected move rocked the Kremlin. It's the first time Russia has faced an invasion of its territory since World War II. 

Kyiv says it captured nearly 600 Russian soldiers and more than 100 settlements in the military incursion.

"They initially made significant gains, although in the past few days it's sort of stabilized as Russia has flown forces from other parts of Ukraine to that area," said Hardie.

A top Ukrainian commander claims Moscow has diverted nearly 30,000 troops from its operations in the east to try and defend Kursk.

Meanwhile, 150 miles south of Kursk, Ukrainian forces are also reportedly attempting to break through Russian lines in Belgorod.

Ukraine has targeted the border region with multiple air strikes forcing Russians to evacuate.

In Ukraine's east, fighting continues to rage around the strategic city of Pokrovsk which serves as its main defensive stronghold and key logistics hub in the Donetsk region.

Residents there have been packing up and leaving as fears grow of a major Russian assault on the city.

"Russia continues to attack in parts of eastern Ukraine, most notably the area around Pokrovsk and are making really faster gains than they had in the past few months so the situation there for Ukraine is looking quite dire," warned Hardie.