Massive Russian strikes across Ukraine | War in Ukraine

Buildings damaged by a Russian military strike in the frontline town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on February 27, 2023.

Russian forces have carried out massive strikes across Ukraine, including in the Kharkiv and Odessa regions, and explosions were heard in Kiev, local authorities said Thursday, as the battle for control of Bakhmout rages.

Since October and after several military setbacks on the ground, Russia has been bombarding key energy facilities in Ukraine with missiles and drones, each time plunging millions of people into darkness and cold. deep freezing winter.

Before dawn Thursday, in Kharkiv, in the east of the country, the enemy carried out about 15 strikes on the city and the region. The occupants are once again targeting essential facilities, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said on social media.

According to initial information, a private residential building in the Kharkiv region was hit, he added, giving clear details of possible casualties and the extent of the damage.

Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov explained that the city's energy infrastructure, the main one in the region, had been targeted and that there were power problems. x27; electricity in some areas.

Energy facilities in Kharkiv had already been hit by Russian strikes in mid-January.

The governor of the Odessa region (south), Maksym Marchneko, for his part reported that missiles hit regional energy infrastructure and damaged residential buildings, speaking of a massive missile strike.

The attack, which came just over a year after the invasion by Russian troops on February 24, 2022, resulted in no deaths, according to the governor, but restrictions on security. x27;electricity supplies were put in place.

Two people were injured, however, according to a spokesman for local rescuers.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klistchko on Thursday reported explosions in the south of the capital. Air defense was deployed there, as in other parts of the country, according to authorities.

Explosions in the Holosiivskyi district of the capital. All services are on site, Klitschko said on social media, referring to a neighborhood in the south of the city.

In the West, the Governor of Khmelnytskyi Region Segiy Gamaliy has urged residents to stay in shelters as the enemy strikes critical infrastructure in the country.

Police have reported explosions in Mykolaiv (south) and the media in the regions of Lviv (west) and Dnipro (east) in particular.

These large-scale strikes come the day after the announcement by the boss of the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner, Yevgeny Prigojine, of the capture of the eastern part of Bakhmout, a small town in the east of the country. #x27;Ukraine at the heart of the fighting for months, despite a disputed strategic value.

Bakhmout could fall in the coming days, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters, adding however that this does not necessarily reflect any turning point in the war.

The plant, which previously produced 20% of Ukraine's electricity, continued to operate for the first months of the invasion, despite periods of bombardment, before being shut down discontinued in September. (File photo)

The last line of communication between the [Russian-occupied] Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and the Ukrainian power grid has been cut off due to Russian rocket attacks, Energatom, the Ukrainian nuclear operator, said in a statement. .

Currently, the […] power plant has gone into +black out+ mode for the sixth time since the occupation, the reactors of units 5 and 6 have been put [stationary] cold, added Energatom.

The operator specifies that 18 emergency diesel generators have been activated to ensure the minimum power supply to the plant. They have enough fuel for ten days. The countdown has begun, emphasizes Energatom.

If it is not possible to renew the power plant's external power supply, an accident with radioactive consequences for the whole world could take place, warns the operator.

The Russian army occupied this huge nuclear complex in southern Ukraine on March 4, 2022, nine days after the start of its invasion.

The plant , which previously produced 20% of Ukraine's electricity, continued to operate for the first few months of the invasion, despite periods of bombardment, before being shut down in September.

Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky himself, have warned, however, that the fall of the city could pave the way for a Russian advance in the east.

These latest strikes follow a meeting on Wednesday of the 27 EU defense ministers in Stockholm, with their Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiï Reznikov, to negotiate a plan for deliveries of shells and ammunition to Kiev, which could be carried forward. two billion euros.

Ukraine's President hosted UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Kyiv on Wednesday, including discussing the extension of an agreement allowing Ukraine to export its grain.

In mid-February, Moscow had already carried out a massive attack with dozens of missiles against energy production sites causing Ukraine to temporarily lose a significant part of its generation capacities.

Kiev announced soon after that it had regained sufficient electricity production to avoid cuts, after months of restrictions due to repeated Russian strikes.

On Wednesday, Director of US Intelligence Avril Haines said the big Russian offensive that was feared a few weeks ago has fizzled out and that the Kremlin is unlikely to make major territorial gains in Ukraine this year and looks set to settle for revised goals s downward.

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