This Sunday (17), Russia carried out its biggest air attack against Ukraine in almost three months, in which it fired 120 missiles and 90 drones, killed at least seven people and caused “severe damage” to the energy system.
The attack comes at a critical moment in the war, with blackouts happening as winter approaches, and in the context of Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential elections – who made promises to end the war in one day, but without saying as.
Authorities confirmed damage to infrastructure “already in critical condition” and power cuts in cities including Rivne and Lviv in the west, and Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia in the southeast. Dtek, Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, also imposed emergency power cuts in the southern city of Odesa.
President Volodimir Zelensky stated that the “massive attack targeted all regions of Ukraine”.
Explosions could be heard from the center of the capital, Kiev. The city’s air force said it destroyed 104 of the 120 missiles fired and 42 of the 90 drones launched by Russia.
The attack “severely damaged Ukraine’s power system, including Dtek power stations. These attacks show the need for more help to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense system,” said Maxim Timchenko, CEO of Dtek.
Energy Minister German Galushchenko announced that Russia was carrying out a massive attack on the electricity system across the country. The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Andrii Sibiga, classified the bombings as “one of the biggest attacks” carried out by Moscow.
“Russia launched one of the largest air strikes: drones and missiles against peaceful cities, sleeping civilians, critical infrastructure,” he said.
In Mykolaiv in the south, two people were killed in a drone strike overnight, the governor said. Two people were killed and three were injured in an attack on a railway depot in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
In the Lviv region, on the border with Poland, a woman in a car was killed, the governor said. Two other people died in the Odesa region.
In Kiev, the roof of a residential building caught fire due to falling debris, and at least two people were injured, city authorities reported on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine faces significant electricity cuts, raising fears of a harsh winter.
Also this Sunday, a Ukrainian drone attack in the Russian region of Kursk left one person dead and two injured, according to regional governor Alexei Smirnov on the Telegram messaging app.