Russian drones and missiles hit energy infrastructure in Kyiv and nearby regions overnight, killing five people including a child. Ukrainian officials called it the start of another winter campaign against the power grid, while Russia said it targeted a data centre, power plants, and port infrastructure.
Russian drone and missile attacks struck energy infrastructure in Kyiv and the surrounding areas on Wednesday, killing five people, including a child, according to Ukrainian officials. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said energy infrastructure in the capital and the surrounding region was the main target of an overnight attack that involved nearly 190 drones and ballistic missiles.
Ukraine's air force said five missiles and 155 drones had been intercepted in the overnight attack. Power company DTEK did not detail the damage to energy infrastructure in Kyiv but said workers had restored supply to 8,000 households.
A prelude to another winter campaign
Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said energy facilities had come under attack in other regions as well. According to Reuters: "Russia has escalated to massive strikes on energy infrastructure", he said on Telegram. He added that a combined strike of this scale had not happened since the end of last heating season.
Ukraine is preparing for another winter assault on power and heating facilities after last year entire cities were plunged into darkness and cold for days or weeks. Koretskyi instructed local authorities to check the readiness of backup power systems at critical facilities and finish installing and connecting them as soon as possible.
Russia details its targets
Russia acknowledged the overnight assault, saying it had hit a data centre in the capital supporting Ukraine's armed forces, various power plants in the Kyiv region, an industrial complex in the Odesa region, and port infrastructure in Izmail. The attacks followed weeks of near-constant barrages of jet drones, which Ukraine struggles to shoot down. Zelenskiy said Ukraine, which is also short of interceptors to down ballistic missiles, had received new air defence support packages in recent days, and he called for more protection ahead of winter.
Smoke over Kyiv, debris at an embassy
Kyiv was shrouded in thick fog from the smoke of attacks on Wednesday morning, and emergency services asked residents to keep windows closed. Citing preliminary information, Klitschko said debris had been found at a Western embassy in the centre of Kyiv, though he did not specify which embassy.
A drone also crossed into Moldova's airspace and exploded near the eastern village of Hirbovet, while Romania and Poland, both members of the European Union and NATO, scrambled military jets. Flights at Polish airports Lublin and Rzeszow were temporarily suspended.
Ukraine has also increased attacks on Russia, hitting refineries and online retailers to undermine Moscow's war effort. One person was killed in drone attacks in Russia's Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, while a Ukrainian drone attack on the oil-producing Samara region damaged private houses, regional governors said.
Source: Commodities & Futures News
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