Russia targets Ukraine’s power grid in ‘massive’ missile strike, officials say

[ad_1] KYIV — Blasts rang out throughout Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and different cities early on Sunday, as Russia staged its largest missile assault since August and focused energy amenities with the winter setting in, officers stated.

Ukrainians have been bracing for a significant assault on the hobbled energy system for weeks, fearing crippling harm to the grid that might trigger lengthy blackouts and construct psychological strain at a important second within the struggle Russia launched in February 2022.

“One other large assault on the ability system is beneath manner. The enemy is attacking electrical energy technology and transmission amenities all through Ukraine,” Ukrainian Vitality Minister German Galushchenko wrote on Fb.

A Ukrainian rescuer extinguishes a hearth following a drone assault in Mykolaiv. Handout picture by way of Ukrainian Emergency Service / AFP. HANDOUT / AFP - Getty Photos Air defenses may very well be heard participating drones over the capital within the night time, and a collection of highly effective blasts rang out throughout the town middle because the missile assault was beneath manner within the morning.

The dimensions of the harm was not instantly clear. Officers reduce energy provide to quite a few metropolis districts, together with in Kyiv, the encircling area and Dnipropetrovsk area, in what they stated was a precaution to forestall a surge in case of harm.

Authorities within the Volyn area in northwestern Ukraine stated vitality infrastructure had sustained harm however didn't elaborate. Officers usually withhold info on the state of the ability system due to the struggle.

In Mykolaiv within the south, two folks had been killed within the in a single day drone assault, the regional governor stated. Blasts shook the southeastern metropolis of Zaporizhzhia and the Black Sea port of Odesa, Reuters witnesses stated. Extra blasts had been reported within the areas of Kryvyi Rih within the south and Rivne within the west.

“Russia launched one of many largest air assaults: drones and missiles in opposition to peaceable cities, sleeping civilians, important infrastructure,” stated Overseas Minister Andrii Sybiha.

He described the strike as Moscow’s “true response” to leaders who had interacted with President Vladimir Putin, an obvious swipe at German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who positioned a telephone name to the Russian chief on Friday for the primary time since late 2022.

NATO member Poland, which borders Ukraine to the west, stated it had scrambled its air power inside its airspace as a safety precaution because of the Russian assault, which it stated used cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones.

Poland “activated all accessible forces and sources at his disposal, the on-duty fighter pairs had been scrambled, and the ground-based air protection and radar reconnaissance programs reached the best state of readiness,” the operational command of its armed forces posted on X.

Ukrainian rescuers carry the physique of an individual killed by a drone assault in Mykolaiv. Handout picture by way of Ukrainian Emergency Service / AFP. HANDOUT / AFP - Getty Photos Ukraine’s air power urged residents to take cowl, offering common updates on the progress of Russian cruise, ballistic and hypersonic missiles it stated had been hurtling by means of Ukrainian air house.

In Kyiv, the roof of a residential constructing caught hearth resulting from falling particles and a minimum of two folks had been harm, metropolis officers stated on the Telegram messaging app.

“Emergency companies had been dispatched to the scene,” Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko stated.

Russia final performed a significant missile strike on Kyiv on Aug. 26, when officers stated it fired a salvo of greater than 200 drones and missiles throughout the nation in an assault that assault killed seven folks.