Ukraine reported on Saturday that Russia carried out a significant overnight attack on energy infrastructure in the west and south, resulting in at least seven fatalities in other areas due to strikes.
The Ukrainian military stated that Russia launched 16 cruise missiles from various platforms, including land, sea, air, and 13 attack drones, targeting energy infrastructure in multiple regions. The air defences managed to intercept all but four of the missiles.
The energy ministry confirmed that this was the eighth large-scale attack on energy infrastructure facilities in the past three months, focusing on the Zaporizhzhia region in the south and Lviv in the west. It was reported that equipment at Ukrenergo facilities in those regions was damaged.
Two employees in Zaporizhzhia were injured and hospitalized, where Europe’s largest nuclear plant is situated. The ongoing attacks on energy infrastructure have severely impacted Ukraine’s electricity generation capacity, leading to blackouts and the need to import supplies from the European Union.
Due to the damages from the attacks, power outages across Ukraine were scheduled to start earlier than usual on Saturday, lasting from 1100 GMT to 2100 GMT. Additionally, shelling in Zaporizhzhia resulted in one civilian casualty and destruction of residential buildings and infrastructure.
Russia controls a part of the Zaporizhzhia region and the nuclear plant. The regional military administration reported that Ukrainian attacks damaged a substation connected to the nuclear power plant, but there was no impact on nuclear safety.
In Lviv, the governor stated that Russia launched a missile attack on a critical energy infrastructure facility, causing a fire that was extinguished later. Ukrainian troops in Lviv managed to intercept seven out of 10 cruise missiles fired by Russia.
Tragically, five civilians lost their lives due to Russian shelling in the eastern Donetsk region. Moscow is attempting to advance near Pokrovsk, where intense clashes occurred on Saturday, as confirmed by the Ukrainian military.
– ‘Crisis’ warning –
In the southern Kherson region, a policeman was killed by a drone at a checkpoint, according to the national police force. The Russian defence ministry claimed to have targeted 340 Ukrainian sites in the past day.
President Zelensky stated that half of Ukraine’s energy capacity has been destroyed by Russian attacks and called for equipping all hospitals and schools with solar panels as a priority. DTEK, the largest private energy company in Ukraine, reported serious damage at one of its plants and warned of a looming energy crisis this winter without adequate military aid to defend the energy network.
Zelensky has been urging Ukraine’s allies to provide more air-defence systems to safeguard the country’s critical infrastructure.
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