Russia: Russian forces have launched a missile and drone attack across Ukraine, damaging energy infrastructure in five regions, according to Ukrainian officials.
The attacks affected facilities in the eastern Donetsk, southeast Zaporizhia, and Dnipropetrovsk areas, as well as the central and western regions of Kirovohrad and Ivano-Frankivsk, according to a statement released on Saturday by Ukrenergo, the national grid operator of Ukraine.
Russia, which began a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to the air force commander, the Ukrainian air defense downed 46 out of 47 Russian drones and 35 out of 53 Russian missiles. Russia has intensified its bombardment of Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure since March, resulting in blackouts, the loss of most thermal and hydropower generation, and record-high imports of electricity.
The biggest private energy producer in Ukraine, DTEK, reported that two of its thermal power plants had been struck, with equipment suffering from “serious damage.” Firefighters were putting out fires on multiple locations after the strikes, according to regional authorities, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
The US declared a day earlier that it would be lifting the prohibition on Ukraine utilizing its weaponry inside Russian territory to assist the country in defending its northeastern Kharkiv region against strikes. This coincided with the latest missile and drone assault.
The action was taken in response to indications from France and other European nations that Ukraine would be permitted to use its armaments against Russian military targets.
Amidst a spike in attacks this month, especially on Kharkiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine has been pleading with his country’s allies to permit it to utilize their longer-range weapons to strike targets on Russian soil.
Early on Friday, local authorities in Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine, said that a missile strike on an apartment building in the city at around midnight (21:00 GMT) by a Russian attack had resulted in at least three fatalities and sixteen injuries. Officials reported last week that a Russian attack on a supermarket that sold hardware killed 19.
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