Russia launches largest attack on Ukraine energy infrastructure since spring
At least six people were killed and 33 others injured across the country in the overnight attacks, local authorities reported.
Russia carries out biggest strike on Ukraine’s energy system since spring
Russia has carried out its largest attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since spring, mainly hitting Kyiv and the surrounding area, Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi said.
At least six people were killed and 33 others were wounded nationwide in the overnight assaults, including a child in the Kyiv region, according to local authorities.
The strikes also affected electricity supplies, with Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, saying power had been restored to 8,000 homes after “a difficult night” for the capital.
Russia’s defence ministry said one of its targets was the Trypilska power station, the biggest source of electricity for Kyiv. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed this.
In a Telegram statement, Koretskyi said: “Since the summer, there has effectively not been a single day without enemy attacks on our energy infrastructure.
“However, a mass and combined attack of this scale has occurred for the first time since the end of the last heating season.”
Ukraine has been bracing for another prolonged Russian offensive against the country’s power grid. Such attacks have taken place every winter since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Altogether, 11 regions were hit overnight, with residential buildings, social infrastructure, civilian businesses and railways also targeted, Koretskyi said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said critical infrastructure was struck in the Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad and Rivne regions.
On Wednesday, some households in the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Sumy, Kyiv and Kharkiv regions were still without electricity, Ukraine’s energy ministry said.
State-owned grid operator Ukrenegro urged residents not to use high-powered electrical appliances between 10:00 and 16:00 local time because electricity supplies were below normal.
In Kyiv, residents woke to thick, acrid smoke covering the city after a night marked by explosions. An air raid alert was still in effect, and the distant sound of air defence fire echoed through the hazy air.
People in several districts were told to keep their windows shut until the smoke dispersed.
Among those killed in the overnight strikes was a child whose body was found beneath the ruins of a house, Kyiv regional Governor Timur Tkachenko said.
Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klischko said three people were killed in the capital in total, including a worker for a Ukrainian utility company who died at a warehouse building.
Two people were also killed in the north-eastern Sumy region, governor Oleh Hryhorov said, while another person died in a Russian drone attack in the Mykolaiv region, acting regional governor Heorhiy Reshetilov said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow now controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.