Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians will be without electricity this winter as Russian strikes continue on the country’s energy infrastructure.
Officials in several regions reported blackouts as the Kremlin stepped up its attacks on power plants, water systems and other key energy suppliers across the country as the war enters its final phase.
Russian troops fired more than 80 rockets at cities Ukraine on October 10, in apparent retaliation for an explosion that damaged a key link in the bridge Russia on the Crimean Peninsula.
Ukraine’s air force said in a statement on Saturday that Russia launched a “massive missile strike” against the country’s “critical infrastructure”, hours after air raid sirens wailed across the country.
It said it shot down 18 of 33 air- and sea-launched cruise missiles.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that “several missiles” aimed at the capital were shot down early Saturday morning, and similar reports soon followed from officials in the west and south of the country.
Power outages were also reported in southwest Odessa after “two missile strikes on the region’s energy infrastructure,” Governor Maksim Marchanka said.
About 40% of the country’s electricity system has since been severely damaged following the attack on the Kerch Bridge.
Earlier this week, President Zelensky reported that 30% of Ukraine’s power plants were destroyed by Russian strikes.
State-owned energy supplier Ukrenergo has since announced that several regions, including the capital Kyiv and the surrounding area, had to “enforce energy restrictions.”
“Ukrenergo specialists are taking all measures to restore power supply as soon as possible,” they added.
Elsewhere in the country, the western city of Khmelnitsky was left without power shortly after local media reported several loud explosions.
The mayor of Lutsk, a city of 215,000 in the far west of Ukraine, made similar statements on Telegram on Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, the central city of Uman, a major pilgrimage center for Hasidic Jews with a population of more than 100,000 before the war, was also plunged into darkness after a rocket hit a nearby power plant.
Earlier this week, Zelenskiy urged citizens to limit electricity consumption between 7 and 11 a.m. and advised civilians to avoid using energy-intensive appliances such as electric heaters.
He also stated that five suicide drones filled with explosives were shot down in the central Cherkasy region southeast of Kyiv.
There are reports of Russia elsewhere in Ukraine false flag planning an attack on the dam with the aim of creating an “atomic bomb” out of water to flood the people living near Kherson.
The occupied city is preparing to be the site of the next major battle in the conflict, with Russian authorities evacuating their civilians from the region at a rate of 10,000 a day ahead of an expected Ukrainian attack.
The dam, located 35 miles from Kherson, provides hundreds of thousands of people with electricity.
Allegedly, Russia is trying to make it look like Ukraine is responsible for the attack, hoping to portray the country as a “terrorist state that deliberately attacks civilians.”
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Blackouts across Ukraine as Russia ramps up airstrikes on energy infrastructure
