Heavy Russian attack cuts power to swathes of Ukraine
Russian forces targeted energy facilities in Ukraine in a heavy attack, cutting off power to nine regions and plunging parts of the capital Kiev into darkness, Ukrainian officials said.
As a new winter approaches in the war that started in February 2022, at least one person, a 7-year-old child in the southeast, died and at least 20 people were injured in the latest attack on Russia’s energy facilities in Ukraine.
“The main target of Russia’s attacks ahead of the warming season is definitely civilian and energy infrastructure,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told X. he said.
Calling for more support from Kiev’s allies, he said: “What we need is not ostentation, but decisive action by the United States, Europe and the G7 on the provision of air defense systems and the implementation of sanctions.”
For many Kyiv residents, the day started with power outages, water outages and transport delays.
“When I left my house, we had no electricity or water. I can’t go to work because the metro is not working and the buses are full,” 23-year-old student Anatoliy told Reuters on Friday.
“I’m hoping for the best, but I don’t even know how to get to the other side (of the Dnipro River, which runs through Kiev),” he said after spending the night in his corridor surrounded by violent explosions.
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said the attack was one of the worst concentrated attacks on energy infrastructure and reported significant damage.
About 28,000 families were left without electricity in the Kiev region on Friday morning, Governor Mykola Kalashnyk said.
The attack also damaged the energy infrastructure in the central region of Poltava, where about 17,000 consumers were left without electricity, regional officials said.
Ukrainian private energy company DTEK said its thermal power plants were seriously damaged in the attack but did not provide further details.
The government said it expects water supplies to the capital to be restored by the end of Friday and that electricity is reaching critical infrastructure while repairs are carried out.
