Ukrainian energy network targeted by new “massive” and deadly Russian attack, according to kyiv

The network & The already fragile Ukrainian energy sector faced a major crisis on Sunday a new “massive” Russian attack, announced the national authorities, with various strikes also causing at least eight deaths and around twenty injuries. across the country.

“A massive combined attack targeted all regions of Ukraine” and targeted “our energy infrastructure,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

According to him, 120 missiles and 90 drones were launched, while Ukrainian air defenses managed to destroy 140 of these targets.

Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga denounced “one of the largest air attacks” launched by Russia.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it had hit “all” its targets in a massive attack on “critical energy infrastructure that supported the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.”

Moscow, by increasing its air attacks drones and missiles, has already destroyed half of Ukraine's energy capacity, according to kyiv.

Ukrainian energy operator DTEK said some of its thermal power plants had been “seriously damaged” without causing any casualties among its employees.

These strikes come at a time when Ukraine, struggling on the front, fears losing precious American support with Donald Trump's imminent return to the White House.

© UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE – Handout

The country, which has been fighting Russian invasion for nearly three years, is regularly facing major power cuts, raising fears of a harsh winter.

The operator DTEK reported “emergency power cuts” in the kyiv, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions on Sunday morning, before announcing that power was being restored.

Electricity and water have also been cut in some districts of Odessa, a large southern port city, according to its mayor.

“Critical” or “energy” infrastructure has been hit by attacks in almost all parts of the country, especially in the west and south, local authorities have said.

kyiv is urging its Western partners to help rebuild its power grid, a project that requires major investments, and to provide more air defense equipment to counter Russian bombing.

DTEK said this was the eighth major attack on its power plants this year.

– Putin's “Response” –

In total, various types of Russian attacks on the country during the night and morning left eight dead and about 20 injured, according to authorities Among them, two employees of the state railway company Ukrzaliznytsia were killed during the bombing of a depot in Nikopol (south), and three were injured, the company announced.

A woman was killed and two people were injured in a missile attack on the less commonly targeted western Lviv region, the head of the military administration, Maksym Kozytsky, said.

Two people were killed and a 17-year-old boy was injured in Odessa, according to Governor Oleg Kiper.

A drone strike killed two people and injured six others, including two children, in the southern city of Mykolaiv, the emergency services said.

Two more people were injured in an attack on a residential building in the capital Kiev, according to the Interior Ministry.

Several people were also injured in attacks distinct in Dnipro (east), as well as in the regions of Poltava (center), Zaporizhzhia and Kherson (south).

Russian missiles and drones even reached Transcarpathia, a very rarely targeted region in the far west of the country, far from the front and bordering Poland and Hungary in particular.

As a result, the Polish army announced on Sunday that it had launched fighter jets and mobilized forces to defend its territory, a regular procedure in the event of danger close to its borders.

Ukrainian Minister Andrii Sybiga considered that Sunday's Russian attacks constituted the “real answer” from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the leaders who have “called or visited him” recently.

kyiv was annoyed on Friday by a phone call between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Vladimir Putin, the first since December 2022.

In October, the Russian president brought together world leaders in Russia, including United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, for the BRICS summit.

Donald Trump's recent victory in the US presidential election has rekindled the debate on possible negotiations between Moscow and kyiv.

On Saturday, Volodymyr Zelensky, who had long dismissed this option, said he wanted to end the war in his country in 2025 by “diplomatic means”.

The Russian and Ukrainian positions nevertheless remain opposed: kyiv rules out the transfer of territories occupied by the Russian army, while Moscow sets it as a condition.

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