Ukraine: Four dead in massive Russian strikes on energy sites

“Massive” Russian missile and drone strikes targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure on Monday, killing at least four people and forcing authorities to impose power cuts.

According to kyiv, fifteen regions were targeted by this Russian bombing campaign with, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, “at least 127 missiles and 109 drones”.

This is “one of the most significant Russian attacks”, he declared.

Ukraine shot down 201 of the 236 aerial vehicles launched by Russia, indicated Mykola Olestchuk, commander of the Ukrainian air force, denouncing “the biggest missile attack”.

The Polish military announced that a “flying device”, probably a Shahed drone, had entered NATO-member Poland before disappearing from radar on Monday morning.

“There is a lot of damage in the energy sector,” he said in a Telegram address, adding that repairs were underway.

Ukrainian energy distributor Ukrenergo has implemented emergency power cuts to stabilise the grid, briefly immobilising rail traffic.

Photo released by Ukrainian emergency services on August 26, 2024, of a psychologist comforting an elderly woman after a Russian missile strike in Lutsk, Volyn region, Ukraine © Ukrainian emergency services – Handout

The Russian Defense Ministry said it had carried out a “massive strike” against military airfields and energy sites.

Washington denounced the strikes as “outrageous,” while London called them “cowardly.”

The German Foreign Ministry accused Russia of “trying to destroy the supply” of electricity to Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the West to allow his country to use its long-range weapons against Russia, which it has so far refused to do.

Kiev's surprise offensive in Russia's Kursk region in early August was aimed at “compensating” for this lack of range, he said.

Some of the missiles launched Monday were from the airspace of Kursk, Belgorod and other Russian border regions, as well as Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, the president added.

– “We're getting used to it” –

In kyiv, residents have taken refuge in underground metro stations, journalists from AFP.

“Nobody thought that Russia, which was once our sister, would cause us so much grief,” explains Svetlana Kravchenko, 51, met at a station in the city center.

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Residents take shelter in the Teatralna metro station during a Russian airstrike, on August 26, 2024 in Kiev, Ukraine © AFP – Roman PILIPEY

After two and a half years of war, anti-aircraft alarms frequently sound on Ukrainian territory.

The last deadly attack on the capital was on July 8, when a Russian missile hit a pediatric center, killing around forty people.

Since the start of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has regularly bombed its neighbor's energy infrastructure, forcing authorities there to ration electricity, especially during heatwaves.

Smoke over Kiev during a Russian strike, August 26, 2024 in Ukraine © AFP – Sergei SUPINSKY

“The enemy is terrorizing the whole of Ukraine with its missiles again,” Energy Minister German Galushchenko said.

According to Ukrainian authorities, aerial bombardments earlier in the day left at least four dead and around 20 wounded across the country.

Two more people died in subsequent Russian strikes, officials said.

– “Deterioration” of security conditions –

A Russian drone appears to have gone astray on Polish territory in the morning.

“We are probably dealing with the entry of a flying machine into Polish territory,” said General Maciej Klisz, commander-in-chief of the Polish operational forces. Its presence “has been confirmed by at least three radiolocation stations.”

Russia: Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region © AFP – Valentin RAKOVSKY, Cléa PECULIER, Paz PIZARRO

The device has not yet been found and could have left Polish territory.

“It could very likely be a Shahed-type drone,” said Colonel Jacek Goryszewski, spokesman for the operational forces command.

At the same time, the Russian army continues its advance to the East in the face of fewer Ukrainian troops.

In the eastern region of Donetsk, the authorities have decided to expand the evacuations around Kostiantynivka, located a about fifteen kilometers from the front line, due to the “deterioration of security conditions.”

The area of ​​the city of Pokrovsk, an important logistics hub in the region, is “the most difficult” and is the focus of the majority of Russian attacks, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday.

A fire at an oil refinery in Omsk, Siberia, killed one person and injured six others on Monday, regional governor Vitali Khotsenko said on Telegram. The cause of the fire has not been indicated by authorities.

Russian media reported that loud explosions were heard near the refinery, operated by Russian giant Gazprom.

Ukraine regularly carries out drone attacks on oil and gas infrastructure in Russia, sometimes far from its border. The Omsk refinery is located about 2,300 km from its territory.

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