- Russian missile strikes disrupt Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing blackouts
- Attacks damage critical facilities, including Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant’s power line
- Zelensky urges more Western aid; significant infrastructure and casualties reported
Blackouts have affected extensive regions of Ukraine as a result of Russian missiles aiming at energy infrastructure.
Kharkiv’s second-largest city is without electricity, according to regional administrator Oleg Synehubov.
In Kharkiv, fifteen explosions were reported; in Odesa, over 53,000 households were without electricity.
Russian interference was blamed by German Galushchenko, the energy minister of Ukraine, for “a major breakdown of the nation’s energy infrastructure.”
He added that a power line that supplied the Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility had been severed.
Ivan Fedorov, the regional administrator, stated that the power plant was “on the verge of a blackout” and that thirty-five structures had been damaged or eradicated in the region.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that during the surge of overnight attacks, Russia launched over sixty Shahid drones and approximately ninety missiles into Ukraine.
At least two fatalities and fourteen injuries have been reported.
The new assault occurred one day after Russian forces targeted the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, with one of their largest airstrikes in weeks. A minimum of seventeen individuals were injured, one of whom was a minor, due to falling debris.
President Zelensky reaffirmed his appeal to Western allies for additional military assistance and air defense systems in response to the most recent assault.
He stated that Europe was “humiliated” by the ammunition shortage his soldiers were experiencing and added, “Europe can provide more; we must demonstrate this now.”
According to the Ukrainian state hydropower utility, its largest dam, the DniproHES in Zaporizhzhia, was also damaged by a Russian strike.
Although video footage seemingly captured the dam in flames, there is no indication of an imminent breach.
Social media videos captured a passenger trolleybus traversing the dam during its conflagration caused by a missile strike.
According to Zaporizhzhia police, all traffic has been suspended across the dam.
Vinnytsia, the capital of Ukraine, and Kryvyi Rih, the place of birth of President Zelensky, both experienced reports of explosions. A “critical infrastructure object” was damaged, according to Ukrainian officials.
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Energy grid attacks have been a component of the Russian military campaign against Ukraine. During the autumn and winter of 2022, extensive military operations were conducted by Moscow against the power infrastructure of Ukraine, resulting in the deprivation of heat, power, and water for millions of individuals and the darkness. Prolonged electricity blackouts were imposed on 17 million Ukrainians due to the attacks.
Volodymyr Kudrytsky, the director of the Ukrainian grid operator, stated that the damage was significantly less than that caused by the attacks on Thursday night.
“Dozens of grid facilities have been affected,” he stated. This is a worldwide phenomenon.”
Mr. Kudrytsky further stated that Kharkiv was the city most severely impacted, as “Russia attempted to destroy all the primary energy facilities that supplied the city.”
Power station attacks by Russia have frequently been labeled “energy terrorism” by President Zelensky.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for two high-ranking Russian commanders earlier this month, charging them with authorizing assaults against the energy infrastructure of Ukraine.
