Following Russian rockets hitting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, a million people are without power.
According to the regional head, about 53,000 houses in Odesa are without power, and the second-largest city of Kharkiv is without electricity.
Escalating Energy Warfare and Retaliation
Russian attempts to incite “a large-scale failure of the country’s energy system” have been attributed to Ukraine’s energy minister, German Galushchenko. Russia claimed it was retaliation for recent Ukrainian incursions into its territory.
There have been 14 reported injuries and at least five confirmed deaths. The most recent wave of strikes, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, demonstrated the need for Ukraine’s Western allies to provide greater military assistance, particularly stronger air defense systems.
Russia claimed it was retaliation for recent Ukrainian incursions into its territory.
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Russian Strikes Prompt Urgent Plea for Military Aid in Ukraine
“There are no delays in Russian missiles like there are in assistance to our country,” he added in a Telegram message.
He added that during the round of attacks that occurred overnight, about 90 missiles and 60 Shahed drones were launched into Ukraine.
The largest dam in Ukraine, the DniproHES in Zaporizhzhia, was one of the targets; according to Ukrainian officials, it was struck eight times. The dam seemed to be on fire in video footage, but officials claim there is no immediate risk of a breach.
A trolleybus that was crossing the dam at the time, according to officials, caught fire following a missile strike, killing the driver.
“Everything fell apart at 4:30. Explosions and pyrotechnics were horrible. Our house tipped over at one point,” witness Valentyna told the BBC. Her home is situated above the dam.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station lost connection to the main power line on Friday for about five hours as a result of the Russian attacks, according to the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.
However the plant’s sole backup power line remained operational, and it continued to receive outside electricity for reactor cooling.
According to Ivan Fedorov, the regional leader, Zaporizhzhia has seven destroyed structures and 35 damaged ones.
There were also reports of strikes in Vinnytsia, in central Ukraine, and in Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Zelensky. According to Ukrainian officials, they caused damage to a “critical infrastructure object”. Asper to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Kyiv’s recent incursions into Russian territory were the reason behind the attack on the country’s electrical grid.
Local authorities in the Ukrainian border region of Belgorod, Russia, reported on Thursday that a Ukrainian strike had left numerous people wounded and one woman dead.
A day before, Russian military attacked the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv with one of their largest airstrikes in recent weeks. Debris fell and injured at least 17 individuals, one of them a kid.
Since 2022, Russia has included attacks on the electrical grid in its war against Ukraine.
Millions of Ukrainians have been left without heat, power, or water due to strikes by Moscow on the Ukrainian electrical infrastructure in the past. 17 million Ukrainians were left without a consistent source of energy for prolonged periods of time amid attacks that occurred in the fall and winter of 2022.
The attacks on Thursday night, according to Volodymyr Kudrytsky, the chairman of the Ukrainian grid operator, were more severe.
As Kudrytsky put it, “Russia literally tried to destroy all the main energy facilities feeding the city” in Kharkiv, which was the hardest impacted location.
Zelensky frequently referred to the Russian strikes on power plants as “energy terrorism”.
The assaults on Thursday were denounced by the White House, which also reiterated its demand that Ukraine get urgently more air defenses as soon as feasible.
Two prominent Russian commanders were the targets of arrest warrants issued earlier this month by the International Criminal Court, which said they had ordered strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
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