Ukraine: power cuts after Russian strikes on three thermal power plants

Ukraine imposed emergency Friday power cuts in several regions after new massive Russian strikes "severely" damaged three thermal power plants, kyiv calling on Westerners à ugly.

A separate drone attack also caused the death of a civilian and injured a man in the town of Myrivska, announced the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region (central-south), Serguiï Lyssak.

On the Russian side, a civilian was killed and two others injured by a Ukrainian drone which crashed into an apartment building in Belgorod, a town near the 'Ukraine, said regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

The Ukrainian air forces, for their part, assured that they had destroyed the vast majority of the 99 Russian missiles and drones – a particularly high number – launched during this new wave of night bombings.

Moscow has intensified its airstrikes against Ukraine in recent weeks, targeting the energy network in particular and saying it is acting in retaliation for Kiev's attacks in its border regions.

In its daily report, the Russian army confirmed having targeted energy infrastructure during the night but also Ukrainian “anti-aircraft defenses” with missiles, particularly hypersonic ones, and drones.

In total, ten regions were targeted across Ukraine and six people, including a child, were injured in these strikes, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said.

– Three power plants affected –

Three Ukrainian thermal power plants suffered significant damage after Russian fire, said the Ukrainian energy supplier DTEK, without giving the location of these installations.

“The occupants attacked three DTEK thermal power plants. The equipment was seriously damaged,” the company lamented in a press release, specifying that its engineers had “quickly” reacted to deal with the damage.

The national operator Ukrenergo said it was “forced to urgently carry out (power) cuts until the evening” in three regions in due to the “lack of electricity production capacity” following the Russian “massive attack”. “Restrictions” were already in place in two other areas after previous bombings.

“Ukraine needs more air defense systems,” argued Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal, denouncing “barbaric attacks against the Ukrainian energy system”.

Energy Minister German Galushchenko had previously announced that a “massive attack” had particularly targeted energy production sites in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava (center) and Cherkassy (center).

The governor of Dnipropetrovk, for his part, reported that “several energy installations” had been damaged there.

Ukraine: positions of military forces © AFP – Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS, Cléa PECULIER

kyiv is asking its Western allies to send it more aid, and faster. But, in Brussels as in Washington, political divisions have blocked the delivery of arms and the sending of funds in recent months.

Ukrainian officials insist in particular on the additional Patriot battery supplies. This powerful and expensive air defense system was first delivered to Ukraine in spring 2023.

President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on Friday of the need to “replenish stocks more quickly” of Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense and said he was “counting on the rapid reaction” of his country's Western allies.

< p>– Gliding bombs –

The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army Oleksandr Syrsky, in an interview broadcast on Friday, for his part noted that the advantage of the Russian army in terms of ammunition fired on both sides, was “six to one”, a few days ago.

According to him, with better anti-aircraft defense and more ammunition, Ukraine “without a doubt” could have kept some of the positions it recently lost.

Oleksandr Syrsky also claimed that Russia had “significantly increased the activity of its aviation”, notably using guided aerial bombs “which destroy our positions”.

The Ukrainian air forces said on Friday they had destroyed “84 aerial targets”, or 26 missiles and 58 Shahed drones of Iranian manufacture, out of the 99 devices of this type according to them launched by the Russians.

The Russian army sends missiles or drones almost every night to its neighbor's territory but their number is generally lower.

The Polish army has it reports increased surveillance of Poland's airspace, a few days after a Russian missile fired towards towns in western Ukraine flew over its territory for 39 seconds.

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