Russia has attacked power facilities in large parts of Ukraine, including the country’s largest hydroelectric power plant, causing widespread power outages and killing at least five people, officials said Friday.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said more than 60 drones and about 90 rockets were used in the attack.
The attack came a day after Russia launched 31 missiles in a single attack on the capital.
According to Ukrainian authorities, it was the biggest attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure this year and one of the biggest since the outbreak of the war.
“Even last winter, the attack on our energy system was not as big as tonight,” said Volodymyr Kudritsky, head of the energy company Ukrenergo.
Last winter, Russia deliberately targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, resulting in frequent power outages across the country.
Many had warned that Russia would repeat this strategy heading into this winter.
But instead, Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack, primarily targeting Ukraine’s defense industry.
Each major air attack depletes Ukraine’s ability to defeat Russian missiles.
For weeks, President Zelensky has called on Ukraine’s Western allies to provide additional air defense systems and ammunition as aid from the United States lags.
“When it comes to Russian missiles, there are no delays like there are with aid packages for our country. Unlike some politicians, there is no indecision among Shahedis. It is important to understand the cost of delays and postponing decisions. ,” Zelenskiy said, referring to the Iranian-made Shahed drone, which Russia has widely used in its wars.
Reuters
The attack caused a fire at the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant, which supplies power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi announced early Friday that the main external power line to the plant had been cut, but Ukraine’s nuclear operator said it had been restored hours later.
The nuclear power plant is occupied by the Russian military, and there is a constant fear of fighting around the plant due to the possibility of a nuclear accident.
The country’s hydropower authority said there was no risk of the hydropower plant’s dam bursting.
A dam failure could not only disrupt supplies to nuclear power plants, but also cause severe flooding, as happened last year when the main dam at Kakhovka, further downstream on the Dnieper, collapsed.
Zaporizhzhia region governor Ivan Fedorov said three people were killed and at least eight others injured in the Russian attack.
The attack on energy facilities in the Kharkiv region caused a power outage in the country’s second city and disrupted the vital air raid warning system.
Regional governor Ole Sinievov said police would inform residents of possible air attacks through loudspeakers and walkie-talkies, and alerts would be sent to mobile phones.
Other attacks were reported in areas of western Ukraine far from the front lines.
Two people were killed in the Khmelnytsky region, the Interior Ministry said.
According to private energy company DTEK, 1,060 miners were trapped in the Dnipropetrovsk region due to the power outage and were being evacuated.
“The world knows the targets of Russian terrorists as clearly as possible: power plants and energy supply networks, hydroelectric dams, ordinary residential buildings and even trolleybuses. Russia is fighting against the ordinary lives of people. President Zelenskiy said on the messaging app Telegram on Friday.
Russian authorities said on Friday that one person was killed and at least three others injured in Ukrainian shelling near the border.
Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a woman was killed and two others injured when an artillery shell hit them nearby while they were walking their dog.
According to Governor Roman Starovoit, one person was injured when the town of Tetkino in the Kursk region was hit by shelling.
Both regions have come under fire and drone attacks in recent weeks, and officials said an attempt by Ukrainian warplanes to cross into Russian territory had been repulsed.
