Russia strikes cities across Ukraine, targeting the country's energy infrastructure
Nearly 200 missiles and drones fired by Russia, which says it's retaliating for use of U.S. missiles
Russia conducted a "massive" attack against Ukraine's energy infrastructure on Thursday, firing nearly 200 missiles and drones and leaving more than a million households without power, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukrainian officials said it was the 11th major strike on the energy system since March, and it was Russia's second major aerial attack on Ukraine's power grid in less than two weeks. It amplified fears that the Kremlin aims to cripple the country's power generation capacity before winter.
"Attacks on energy facilities are happening all over Ukraine," Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said in a post on Facebook. He added that emergency power outages were implemented nationwide.
At least 1 million people across three western regions of the country were without power, officials said.
Moscow struck in response to recent Ukraine strikes on Russian territory with U.S. medium-range ATACMS missiles, Russian President Vladimir Putin told told members of a security alliance made up of ex-Soviet states in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday. He said Russia's future targets could include "decision-making centres" in Kyiv.
"Tonight we conducted a comprehensive strike using 90 missiles of similar classes and 100 drones," said Putin. "Seventeen targets were hit.
"These are military facilities, defence industry facilities and their support systems. Let me repeat once again: these strikes on our part also took place in response to the ongoing strikes on Russian territory with American ATACMS missiles."
Cluster munitions used, Zelenskyy says
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.
Russia in previous years 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 that is now producing missiles, drones and armoured vehicles, among other military assets.
Ukraine's military said Russia used 91 missiles and 97 drones in Thursday's attack.
The air force said it had shot down 79 missiles and downed 35 drones, while 62 drones were "lost," meaning they had likely been disrupted by electronic warfare.
In some regions, Kalibr cruise missiles with cluster munitions smashed into civilian targets, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, calling it "an insidious escalation." Cluster munitions release numerous small bombs over a wide area, making them dangerous to civilians both during and after an attack.
Ukrainian officials have warned recently that Russia was 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 "weaponizing winter."
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 backward in eastern areas, though its offensive has been slow and costly.
Explosions were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, Lutsk, and many other cities in central and western Ukraine.
Power outages across country
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 northwestern Rivne region were without electricity because of the attack, according to regional Gov. 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.
with files from Reuters