Russian forces have once again targeted energy infrastructure in Ukraine, leaving parts of Kyiv and other cities without power and water.
According to prosecutors, two individuals were slain in an attack on the capital. The vicinity of a power plant along the Dnieper river was surrounded by smoke plumes.
West of Kyiv, the city of Zhytomyr lost power and water, while two facilities in Dnipro were severely damaged.
The most recent attacks occurred 24 hours after “kamikaze” drones struck Kyiv.
At least five persons were killed in the capital and four in the northern city of Sumy when unmanned drones, thought to be of Iranian origin, targeted crucial infrastructure, causing power outages in hundreds of towns and villages.
President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted on Tuesday that 30% of Ukraine’s power plants had been destroyed in the previous eight days, resulting in widespread blackouts.
In recent weeks, Russia has intensified strikes on energy infrastructure in cities distant from the combat lines. Officials have hurried to repair the damage, but the strikes have prompted questions about the system’s resilience ahead of winter.
On Tuesday, it was unclear to what extent drones were involved, although Ukraine said that Russian bombers had fired missiles and that an S-300 anti-aircraft missile had struck a residential building in the southern city of Mykolaiv, killing one person overnight. Additionally, the city’s flower market was damaged.
In more attacks early Tuesday:
- The mayor of Zhytomyr stated that the city lacked electricity and water, and hospitals were operating on backup power.
- The strikes on a Kyiv power plant left the Troyeschyna region on the Dnieper river bank without electricity and water.
- In the central city of Dnipro, where a big energy facility was destroyed, power and water supply were affected; officials announced that street lighting would be turned off.
- There were reports of shelling in the northeastern city of Kharkiv.
- The infrastructure in the southern city of Zaporizhia was also damaged, but local officials reported that no one was injured.
In some Ukrainian cities, residents are purchasing power generators and gas burners, while the rest of the country has been pushed to limit energy use during peak hours. Several cities are already experiencing rolling blackouts.
“We anticipated that Russia would accelerate attacks on energy infrastructure and civilian infrastructure as well as enhance urban warfare in the fall, and this is exactly what is happening,” Ukrainian lawmaker Lesia Vasylenko told.
Since its recent failures on the battlefield, Russia has likely become more willing to hit civilian infrastructure in addition to military targets, according to the most recent assessment of British defense intelligence.
As a result of Russia’s missile and drone attacks, the Ukrainian government has reiterated its request for the supply of air defense weapons.
Previously, the United States stated that it agreed with its French and British partners that Iran’s sale of drones breached a United Nations Security Council resolution tied to a nuclear agreement that prohibits the transfer of certain military equipment.
Ukraine has identified the drones used in fatal assaults on Kyiv and Sumy as Shahid-136 unmanned aircraft (UAVs). The State Department’s Vedant Patel stated that the United States will not hesitate to implement sanctions.
Both Russia and Iran have denied the deployment of Iranian drones. The EU has announced that it is collecting evidence and is prepared to act.
Meanwhile, in one of the largest prisoner exchanges since Russia’s war began in February, 218 inmates, including 108 Ukrainian women, were exchanged.
In the southern Russian city of Yeysk, across the Sea of Azov from Ukraine, a Russian fighter jet crashed into the courtyard of an apartment building. At least thirteen individuals, including three children, were killed, while scores of inhabitants were rescued from the nine-story building.
The pilots of the Su-34 aircraft ejected.
