Russia launched its heaviest combined strike on Ukraine's energy grid in months on Wednesday, hitting power plants around Kyiv and killing seven people, including a child. Officials say Moscow is trying to turn cold, darkness and disrupted power into weapons as winter approaches.
Kyiv woke on Wednesday to a city wrapped in smoke after Russia hit power plants and infrastructure around the capital in the heaviest combined attack on the country's energy sites in months. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the onslaught included nearly 190 drones and ballistic missiles. Ukraine's air force said it had downed 5 missiles and 155 drones.
Ukrainian officials said seven people were killed in the strikes. Zelenskiy said a child was among the dead, with critical infrastructure hit in five regions and other damage reported in five more. Russia said its forces struck power plants in the Kyiv region, an industrial complex in the Odesa region, and port infrastructure in Ismail in the southwest.
Officials warn of a deliberate winter campaign
Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said on X that "Russia has escalated to massive strikes on energy infrastructure," adding that a combined strike of this scale had not happened since the end of last heating season. He said he had instructed local authorities to check backup power systems at critical facilities and speed up installations.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the attack as a deliberate distraction from Russia's battlefield offensive in eastern Ukraine, which has slowed since last year. He said Moscow is trying to turn cold, darkness and disruption into weapons as winter approaches. Russia, which began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, denies targeting civilians.
Shelters under strain as temperatures drop
Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said Wednesday there is a critical shortage of urban shelters, describing the civil-defence system as having completely failed. Ukrainian state weather forecasters said they expect freezing temperatures at night in Kyiv in the coming days, adding urgency to repairs on facilities already strained by the attack.
The overnight assault triggered a more than 12-hour air-raid alert in the capital, where near-constant daytime sirens and explosions have become routine. Drone attacks have killed around a dozen people in Kyiv over the past week alone.
Strikes spill beyond Ukraine's borders
A drone crossed into Moldova and exploded near the eastern village of Hirbovet, prompting Romania and Poland to scramble military jets and briefly suspend flights at the Polish airports of Lublin and Rzeszow. Ukraine has also stepped up strikes on Russian oil refineries and online retailers, and one person was killed in drone attacks in Russia's Bryansk region, according to the regional governor.
Source: Investing.com
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