Russian missiles and drones hit nearly a dozen Ukrainian critical infrastructure in a major airstrike late Wednesday, causing severe damage to three Soviet-era thermoelectric power plants, officials in Kiev said.
The air force said it shot down 39 of 55 missiles and 20 of 21 drones used in the attack, ratcheting up pressure on Ukraine’s besieged energy system more than two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion .
“Another massive attack on our energy sector!”, Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on the Telegram app.
Two people were injured in the Kiev region and one in the Kirovohrad region, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.
About 350 rescuers are working to minimize damage to several power plants, 30 houses, public transport vehicles, cars and a fire station.
According to Galushchenko, energy production and transmission facilities in the regions of Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsia were affected.
The attack was the latest in a wave of attacks against critical energy infrastructure that began in March.
The attacks have already forced authorities to impose rolling blackouts in several regions, but their full impact will likely be felt later in the year when energy consumption peaks.
With the exception of Zaporizhzhia in the south-east of the country, all these regions are located far from the front line in the east, where heavy fighting is taking place and where Russia is gaining ground.
Galushchenko did not name the facilities hit, part of a policy of wartime secrecy that Kiev says is necessary to prevent Russia from using the information for more airstrikes.
Lviv Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said Russia also attacked a natural gas storage facility in his region in the west of the country, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the country struck targets in Ukraine in retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities. Russia denies targeting civilians but considers Ukraine’s energy system a legitimate military target.
Source: Terra
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