Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Ukrainian territory, killing at least five people, officials said.
As a result of attacks, primarily targeting civilian energy infrastructure, power and water outages were reported in many parts of the country, including several districts of the capital, Kiev.
In a Telegram video message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack early on Monday as “one of the largest combined attacks against Ukraine during the war.”
“And like most of the Russian attacks to date, this one was a despicable targeting of critical civilian infrastructure,” he said.
Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk said Russia had fired 127 missiles, 102 of which were intercepted, adding that the Russian military also launched 109 drones.
Air defense artillery fire was heard during the morning rush hour in central Kiev, forcing many people to take refuge in metro stations, while an apartment building was damaged in the western city of Lutsk and deaths were reported in five districts.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhali said 15 regions were affected during the offensive, while Zelenskiy said the energy sector had suffered “heavy damage.”
A senior Ukrainian official said Russia also targeted a hydroelectric plant in the Kyiv region. “Today’s Russian attack targeted Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, including the Kyiv Hydroelectric Plant,” Ukraine’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha said on Xinhua.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that it had launched a “large-scale precision-guided weapons attack on critical energy infrastructure facilities.”
Moscow has been targeting this infrastructure for months, sparking blackouts, rationing and fears of power shortages in the coming winter.
The attack came two days after Ukraine celebrated Independence Day, around which the US embassy in the country warned of an increased risk of Russian attacks.
In response to the attack, President Zelenskiy issued his usual call for Western allies to step up air defense support for Kiev and lift restrictions on using Western weapons deep inside Russian territory.
“When the air forces of our European neighbours work together with our F-16 fighter jets and air defence forces, we can do even more to protect lives,” he said.
Kiev’s surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in recent weeks has shifted the tone and balance of power in the conflict, but it remains unclear what Kiev’s long-term plans are for the areas of Russian territory it controls.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia would mount an “appropriate response” to the incursion and denied growing rumors that any negotiations might take place between Moscow and Kiev in the near future.
“There are a lot of reports in the media about various contacts, but not all of them are correct,” Peskov said. “At the moment the topic of negotiations has almost lost its importance.”
Ukraine remains on the defensive in the east as Moscow advances rapidly toward the strategic city of Pokrovsk. After meeting with senior commanders on Monday evening, President Zelenskiy said he had ordered a “further strengthening” of defenses in that area.
Ukraine continues to deploy long-range drones to attack military installations and oil refineries inside Russia, and the Russian Defense Ministry said its air defense systems destroyed nine drones over the southern Saratov region, 560 miles (900 km) from the Ukrainian border.
Ukraine has been investing heavily in drone technology, developing advanced attack drones capable of flying long distances and striking targets deep inside Russian territory.
Zelenskiy on Saturday touted Ukraine’s newly developed missile drone, called Paryanitsya, saying it was designed to attack Russian military airfields and “destroy the enemy’s offensive capabilities.”
