Russia is engaged in a massive missile and drone attack against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, officials said, as fears mount about Moscow’s intentions to devastate the country’s power generation capacity before winter.
Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko posted on Facebook: “Attacks on energy facilities are happening all over Ukraine.”
He added that emergency power outages are being implemented nationwide.
Explosions were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, Lutsk, and many other cities in central and western Ukraine.
The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andrii Yermak, said in a Telegram post that Russia had stockpiled missiles to strike Ukrainian infrastructure and wage war against civilians during the cold season.
“They were helped by their crazy allies, including from North Korea,” he wrote.
One strike happened in the northern Volyn region. Power supply has been limited there, said Ivan Rudnytskyi, the regional military head.
Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia is stockpiling cruise and ballistic missiles, presumably for another pre-winter aerial campaign against Ukraine’s power grid. Ukrainian officials have in the past accused Russia of “weaponising winter”.
Around half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been destroyed during the almost three years of war with Russia, and rolling electricity blackouts are common.
Kyiv’s Western allies have sought to help Ukraine protect power generation with air defence systems and funds for rebuilding.
In previous years, Russia has targeted Ukraine’s electricity generation, aiming to deny civilians critical heating and drinking water supplies during the bitter winter months and break Ukrainian spirits.
The attacks also seek to hobble Ukraine’s defence industry as it seeks to produce missiles, drones and armoured vehicles, among other military assets.
The war has been going in Russia’s favour in recent months as its bigger army uses its advantages in manpower and equipment to push Ukrainian forces backwards in eastern areas, though its offensive has been slow and costly.
Western governments and South Korea say North Korea has intensified its military support for Russia in recent months.
The head of the Lviv region in western Ukraine, Maksym Kozytskyi, said the attack left more than half a million households without electricity.
Over 280,000 households in the north-western Rivne region were without electricity because of the attack, according to regional governor Oleksandr Koval.
Running water supplies were also patchy in affected areas. Some schools in Rivne city switched to online classes.
There were also strikes on the bordering Volyn region, where 215,000 households had no electricity, regional head Ivan Rudnytskyi said. All critical infrastructure that lost power was switched to generators.
Energy infrastructure was also targeted in the western Ivano-Frankivsk region, local officials said. Air defences were activated there, and emergency power outages were introduced.
Local officials ordered the opening of “points of invincibility” – shelter-type places where people can charge their phones and other electrical devices and get refreshments during blackouts.
In Kyiv, where the air raid alert lasted over nine hours, missile debris fell in one neighbourhood, local officials said. No casualties were reported.
