Lights go out in Ukraine as Russia launches ‘massive’ strike
Russia has intensified its strikes on power stations, water supply systems and other key infrastructure across the country.
Hundreds of thousands of people in central and western Ukraine have woken up to power outages and periodic bursts of gunfire, as Ukrainian air defences tried to shoot down drones and incoming missiles.
Russia has intensified its strikes on power stations, water supply systems and other key infrastructure across the country, the latest phase of the war as it nears the eight-month mark.
Ukraine’s air force said in a statement on Saturday that Russia had launched “a massive missile attack” targeting “critical infrastructure”, hours after air raid sirens blared across the country.
It said that it had downed 18 out of 33 cruise missiles launched from air and sea.
Similar reports were made by the governors of six western and central provinces, as well as the southern Odesa region on the Black Sea.
The presidential office said in its morning statement that five explosive-laden drones were downed in the central Cherkasy region south-east of Kyiv.
The western city of Khmelnytskyi, which straddles the Bug river and was home to some 275,000 people before the war, was left with no electricity, shortly after local media reported several loud explosions.
The city council urged local residents to store water, “in case it’s also gone within an hour”, in a social media post on Saturday.
The mayor of Lutsk, a city of 215,000 in Ukraine’s far west, made a similar appeal on Telegram on Saturday.
Power in Lutsk had been partially knocked out after Russian missiles slammed into local energy facilities, he said.
In the capital and four surrounding regions, including Cherkasy, rolling blackouts came into effect on Saturday morning in response to the reduced power supplies.
The state energy company Ukrenergo continued to urge all Ukrainians to conserve energy.
Earlier this week, President Volodymyr Zelensky called on consumers to curb their power use between 7am and 11am daily, and avoid using energy-guzzling appliances such as electric heaters.
Over the past two weeks, Moscow has increased its attacks on key civilian infrastructure across Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky said earlier in the week that 30% of Ukraine’s power stations have been destroyed since October 10.
