Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Russian forces had attacked Ukraine's energy and power infrastructure with hundreds of drones and missiles, including Iranian-made weapons.
Russia is very fond of Iran's Shahed series of propeller-driven suicide drones. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine claim Russia has launched more than 8,000 Shahed drones in the past two and a half years.
“The targets of the enemy were energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine. Unfortunately, there is damage due to debris from collisions with objects and falling objects. In Mykolaiv, as a result of a drone attack, two people were killed and six others, including two children, were killed. were injured,” Zelenskiy said. said.
Ukraine's president said Ukrainian forces were able to intercept 144 Russian-launched drones and missiles before they hit their targets, but the attack was so large that many of the projectiles missed.
Witnesses reported explosions in Odessa, Zapoizhiya, Krivy Rikh, Dnipropetrovsk and the capital Kiev. The main port city of Odesa is reportedly After the attack, power remained out and hospitals were forced to run on emergency generators. Power outages were also reported in several other areas.
“The situation is most severe in Odesa and Odesa region. Unfortunately, it is still technically impossible to supply electricity to the critical infrastructure of the city's Kievsky district and Primorsky Krai,” Ukrainian electricity distribution company DTEK said. said. said on monday.
DTEK said power had been restored to about 400,000 homes as of Monday morning, but 321,000 customers were still without power. Odesa Governor Ole Kiper said 445 evacuation shelters had been set up for residents while work was underway to restore water and heat to the region.
Ukrainian authorities warned on Monday that rolling blackouts would affect most parts of the country, lasting up to eight hours in some areas.
Kiper said at least eight civilians were killed and another 18 injured in the Russian attack.
The Russian attack was large-scale, prompt Neighboring Poland scrambles fighter jets. supported By NATO aircraft. Polish air defenses remained on high alert throughout the attack on western Ukraine. As of Monday afternoon, there were no reports of Russian missiles or drones hitting Polish territory.
military analyst suspect Russia is planning power outages across Ukraine as winter temperatures drop, causing widespread suffering for Ukrainians.
“Russian terrorists are threatening us again with cold weather and power outages, repeating their actions and trying to get results from them,” President Zelenskiy said on Sunday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said none of Ukraine's nine operating nuclear power plants were damaged in the attack, but several substations connected to these plants were damaged. did.
