Russia on Sunday launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine, described by officials as the largest over the past months, targeting energy infrastructure and killing civilians.
The attack came as fears are mounting about Moscow’s intentions to devastate Ukraine’s power generation capacity ahead of the cold winter.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched a total of 120 missiles and 90 drones in a large-scale attack across Ukraine. Various types of drones were deployed, he said, including Iranian-made Shaheds, as well as cruise, ballistic and aircraft-launched ballistic missiles.
Ukrainian defence forces shot down 140 air targets, Zelenskyy said in a statement on Telegram.
“The enemy’s target was our energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine. Unfortunately, there is damage to objects from hits and falling debris. In Mykolaiv, as a result of a drone attack, two people were killed and six others were injured, including two children,” Zelenskyy said.
Escalating attacks as winter approaches
The combined drone and missile attack was the most powerful in three months, according to the head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration Serhii Popko.
All Ukrainian regions will experience temporary restrictions on power consumption on Monday, following the airstrikes, the national grid operator said on Sunday.
In a statement, Ukrenergo said temporary cutoffs would last from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m., and that workers were repairing damages as quickly as possible.
Russian strikes have hammered Ukraine’s power infrastructure since Moscow’s all-out invasion of its neighbour in February 2022, prompting repeated emergency power shutdowns and nationwide rolling blackouts.
Ukrainian officials have routinely urged Western allies to bolster the country’s air defences to counter assaults and allow for repairs.
Explosions were heard across Ukraine on Sunday, including in the capital, Kyiv, the key southern port of Odesa, as well as the country’s west and central regions, according to local reports.
People in Odesa could be seen on Sunday lining up to fill water containers. Residents spoke of power cuts and visits to an “invincibility centre” to charge phones and laptops.
The strikes were carried out as the war approached this week’s 1,000th day since Russia’s full-scale invasion and were reminiscent of strikes on critical civil infrastructure last November that plunged Ukrainian cities into darkness and cold.
Thermal power plant ‘seriously damaged’
The operational command of Poland’s armed forces wrote on X that Polish and allied aircraft, including fighter jets, have been mobilized in Polish airspace because of the “massive” Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine.
The steps were aimed to provide safety in Poland’s border areas, it said.
One person was injured after the roof of a five-storey residential building caught fire in Kyiv’s historic centre, according to Popko, who heads the city’s military administration.
At least two people were killed and six were wounded, including two children, in the eastern city of Mykolaiv, according to local Gov. Vitalii Kim.
A thermal power plant operated by private energy company DTEK was “seriously damaged” the company said in a statement on Telegram.
