Russia batters Ukraine power grid amid rising concern Putin could order ballistic missile attack this weekend

The severity of the attack is not yet known, though at least half of the Ternopli region was reportedly without power and equipment was said to have been "damaged" by the DTEK civilian energy company.

Similarly, an official told Reuters earlier in the week, "We assess that the Oreshnik is not a game-changer on the battlefield, but rather just another attempt by Russia to terrorize Ukraine, which will fail."

Though according to open-source data presented by Estonian Colonel Ants Kiviselg, head of the nation's Defense Forces (EDE), Ukrainian forces have also successfully repelled attacks levied by Russian forces on the Dontesk town of Kurakhove, some 35 miles south of Pokrovsk, despite Russian attempts to encircle the town.

"Russian occupiers are throwing all available forces forward, attempting to break through the defenses of our troops," Ukrainian army chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a Facebook post late Wednesday. 

Pokrovsk remains a key defensive post for Ukraine in Donetsk, and its fall would not only compromise Kyiv's access to supply routes, but its ability to continue to fend off Russia's attempts to seize the entire region.

"Anything can happen. Anything can happen. It's a very volatile situation," Trump said of the war in Ukraine. "I think the most dangerous thing right now is what's happening, where [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy has decided, with the approval of, I assume, [President Biden], to start shooting missiles into Russia. I think that's a major escalation. I think it's a foolish decision."

Biden in November relinquished his long-held opposition to Ukraine using U.S.-supplied missiles to hit military targets in Russia after years of pleas by Kyiv to do so.

Zelenskyy, along with other U.S. security experts, have long argued Ukraine should be able to attack Russia amid its yearslong deadly invasion, and that hitting weapons depots and Russian military positions used to launch massive missile and drone campaigns that target Ukrainian civilians is critical in turning the tide of the war.