Russian missiles hit power facilities in central, western Ukraine

Kyiv:

Russian missiles struck power facilities in central and western Ukraine on Saturday, increasing pressure on a battered energy system as the country faces a lack of air defenses despite a breakthrough in US military aid.

The air strike, carried out by long-range missiles including cruise missiles fired by Russian strategic bombers based in the Arctic Circle, was the fourth large-scale air attack targeting the power system since March 22.

President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his appeal to partners for defensive missiles, particularly the Patriot system. He said the targets included power and gas transit facilities, particularly facilities critical for gas supplies to the European Union, although he did not say whether any such facilities were damaged.

Russia continues to supply gas to the EU through Ukraine under a transit agreement with Russia’s Gazprom, which is set to expire in December and Ukraine says it does not plan to extend.

“The enemy again carried out massive bombing of Ukrainian energy facilities,” said DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power company. He said four of its six thermal power plants suffered losses overnight.

Officials said rescue workers struggled to put out fires at several energy facilities in the western regions of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk, bordering NATO members Poland and Romania.

Water supplies were disrupted in Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky, following attacks on energy facilities in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, officials said.

Ukrainian air defense shot down 21 of the 34 incoming missiles, the air force commander said in a statement.

None of the affected facilities were identified by name, a security measure intended to prevent Russia from quickly assessing the impact of its attacks.

Zelensky said that the trajectory and nature of the attack were calculated to make it as difficult as possible to stop. “Every rocket fired today is an important result,” he said.

Ukraine’s state oil and gas company Naftogaz said Russia had attacked its facilities, but no one was hurt and supplies to Ukrainian consumers and customers were unaffected.

Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, denies targeting civilians but says Ukrainian energy systems are a legitimate military target. Ukrainian officials said one energy worker was injured overnight.

In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, which has been heavily bombed in recent weeks, a missile struck a hospital with 60 patients overnight, injuring a woman and knocking out the building, nearby water pipes and electricity, the regional governor said. Lines were damaged.

Ukraine, which has tried to take the fight back to Russia by using long-range drones in recent months, attacked the Ilsky and Slavyansk oil refineries in Russia’s Krasnodar region overnight, a Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters. .

The source said the fire at the facilities was caused by a drone strike carried out by the SBU security service. The source said Russia’s Kushchevsk military airfield in the southern region was also attacked.

The Slavyansk oil refinery was forced to suspend some operations after it was damaged in the attack, Russian state news agency TASS quoted an executive who oversees the plant as saying.

rolling blackouts

Officials say Ukraine lost 80% of its thermal power generation and 35% of its hydroelectric potential during the Russian attacks.

Although the core of the energy system comes from nuclear power, the lost capacity acts as a balancing act in the grid and its loss could be a major problem when consumption increases later this year, officials say.

Rolling blackouts have been introduced in many areas, but the full impact of the strikes has not been felt because consumption, which peaks in winter and summer, is low due to mild weather.

There were no planned blackouts in the Lviv region at the moment, but the governor urged residents to economize on electricity use, especially during the evening hours when electricity consumption peaks. He said two critical energy infrastructure objects in the Stryi and Chervonohrad districts were damaged in Saturday’s attack.

Zelensky called on Kiev’s allies for more air defense supplies, faster deliveries and decisive action.

The United States approved a major aid package for Ukraine this week, overcoming a congressional gridlock that has lasted six months as Kiev’s arms stockpiles were depleted.

The Pentagon said Friday it will buy $6 billion of new weapons for Ukraine, including interceptors for the Patriot air defense system.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles, who visited Lviv on Saturday, announced a $100 million military aid package, including short-range air defense and drones with precision air-to-ground weapons.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)