MORE than a million households were left without power in Ukraine after a widespread Russian aerial attack targeted critical energy infrastructure facilities, authorities in the country said yesterday.
This is Russia’s 11th large-scale assault on Ukraine’s energy supplies this year alone, according to the energy ministry in Kyiv, a strategy which has caused nationwide rolling blackouts. Bombardments have intensified in recent months, leaving Ukraine in a precarious position as the war grinds into its third winter.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that the bombardment was a response to Ukraine’s strikes on Russian territory using US-made ATACMS missiles. “As I have said many times, there will always be a response from our side,” Putin said during comments made at a security summit in Kazakhstan.
Ukraine’s energy system came “under massive enemy attack,” overnight, Energy Minister German Halushchenko said Thursday, adding the attacks took place “all over Ukraine.”
In the immediate aftermath, Ukraine’s energy operator introduced emergency power cuts in many regions, with large outages in the western regions of Lviv, Volyn and Rivne. It has since shifted back to implementing scheduled hourly power cuts.
At least five people were injured, including one person in the central Vinnytsia region, two in the southern Odesa region, and two in the capital Kyiv, officials said. In the city of Kharkiv, a missile struck a civilian business, according to local military authorities.
Air defenses were activated across the country, with damage reported in 14 regions, according to the Interior Ministry. In the capital Kyiv, residents took shelter in metro stations as the air raid alert lasted for more than nine hours, due to the combined missile and drone attack. There were no immediate reports of casualties there, authorities said.
