Russia has launched a large-scale air campaign against Ukraine's energy grid, targeting power facilities and infrastructure around Kyiv and other regions. The attack, which occurred on Wednesday, resulted in the deaths of seven people, including a child, and damaged a key power plant and other energy facilities around the capital. Ukrainian officials reported that the strikes were the heaviest combined attack on energy sites in months.
The attack was widely anticipated and follows days of intensifying drone barrages primarily on the capital, Kyiv. Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi stated that Russia has escalated to massive strikes on energy infrastructure, with barely a day passing without an attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure since summer. Koretskyi added that a combined strike of this scale hadn't happened since the end of last heating season.
The air force reported that it had downed 5 missiles and 155 drones during the attack. President Volodymyr Zelensky said energy infrastructure in Kyiv and the surrounding area was the main target of the onslaught. Critical infrastructure came under attack in five regions, with other damage reported in another five regions. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko stated that debris had been found at a Western embassy, but offered no further details.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha described Wednesday's attack by Russia as a "deliberate" distraction from its grinding battlefield offensive in eastern Ukraine. Sybiha stated that Moscow is increasing the pressure on Ukrainian civilians as winter approaches, trying to turn cold, darkness, and disruption of normal life into weapons. Russia denies targeting civilians, despite pounding cities and towns across Ukraine.
The overnight attack triggered a more than 12-hour air-raid alert, with near-constant daytime sirens and explosions becoming a fixture of daily life in Kyiv. Drone attacks have killed around a dozen people over the past week alone in the capital. Ukrainian authorities have been building protective facilities and aiming to diversify energy generation before Russia's expected winter campaign.
Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported a critical shortage of urban shelters, describing the civil-defence system as having "completely failed". Ukrainian state weather forecasters expect freezing temperatures at night in Kyiv in the coming days. In neighbouring Moldova, a drone crossed into its airspace and exploded near the eastern village of Hirbovet, prompting Nato members Romania and Poland to scramble military jets.
The attack on Ukraine's energy grid is part of a larger conflict, with Ukraine stepping up attacks on Russia, striking oil refineries and major online retailers to undermine Moscow's war effort. One person was killed in drone attacks in Russia's Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, the regional governor reported. Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has continued to pound cities and towns across the country.
Key points
- Seven people, including a child, were killed in the attack on Ukraine's energy grid.
- The attack was the heaviest combined attack on energy sites in months.
- Ukrainian authorities reported a critical shortage of urban shelters, with the civil-defence system described as having "completely failed".
