A Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy system caused serious damage to facilities in 10 regions, with the hardest-hit being Kharkiv, Zhytomyr and Vinnytsia regions, Deputy Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov said, as quoted by Reuters.
Emergency power cuts were introduced in the capital Kyiv, as well as in Kyiv, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv, Cherkasy and Kharkiv regions, due to equipment damage and a drop in voltage in the high-voltage electricity grid, Nekrasov said on "Telegram".
Russian strikes left more than 180,000 consumers in Zhytomyr region without electricity and caused serious damage to a facility in Odesa region belonging to Ukraine’s largest private energy operator, DTEK, Reuters reported, citing officials and representatives of the company itself.
Scheduled power cuts were introduced across Odesa region. According to Zhytomyr Regional Governor Vitaliy Bunечko, around 130 settlements were left without electricity this morning. No casualties or injuries have been reported.
In Odesa region, an attack carried out shortly before midnight caused extensive damage to a facility operated by "DTEK Odesa Electric Networks", the company said, stressing that the facility had been shelled repeatedly over the past two months and that repair work would take a long time.
Massive strikes were also carried out against energy facilities in Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions that supply electricity to both military factories and the Ukrainian army, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said, Reuters reported.
Four power plants and two substations, as well as port infrastructure in the city of Kiliia on the Danube, were hit, the Russian ministry said in a statement, adding that two cargo ships had also been targeted—one at the port of Pivdennyi (Yuzhne) and the other in the Black Sea. According to Moscow, the two vessels were carrying military equipment and dual-use equipment intended for the Ukrainian army.
In its massive strikes overnight, Russian forces used 289 unmanned aerial vehicles, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles against Ukraine in an attack targeting primarily energy infrastructure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The threat of new missile strikes and drone attacks remains, and the air-raid alert is still in effect, he stressed.