At least three people have been killed after Russia launched a massive attack across Ukraine, seriously damaging some power and water supplies.
Explosions rang out in several cities including Kyiv on Monday morning, as more than half of the country’s regions came under attack.
Authorities in Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk and the central Dnipropetrovsk region each reported someone had died in the massive air raid, which featured missiles and drones.
Ukraine’s prime minister said Russia had been targeting their energy infrastructure, a long-term tactic of Moscow’s forces.
The barrage of drone and missile attacks began across the country overnight on Monday and continued well into the morning, Ukraine’s air force said on Telegram.
Explosions were heard in numerous cities from Lutsk in the west to Dnipro in the east as people were urged to stay in shelters and the entire country came under air raid alert.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said 15 regions were targeted – with the attacks aimed at energy infrastructure and using weapons including drones, cruise missiles and supersonic missiles.
“There are wounded and dead,” Mr Shmyhal said on the Telegram social media app.
A 69-year-old man was killed in the Dnipropetrovsk region, local governor Sergiy Lysak said, adding that several houses had been damaged.
A man was killed when his house was hit in Zaporizhzhia, said the governor, while the mayor of Lutsk said one person had been killed when an “infrastructure facility” was hit.
In the central Poltava region, five people had been injured when an “industrial facility” was hit, the governor said – as he urged people to stay in shelters until bedtime.
The attacks have caused serious damage to some infrastructure, with power outages reported in many cities – including Kyiv – and water supplies disrupted.
Emergency blackouts have been imposed, energy company DTEK warned, adding that its engineers were working to return electricity supplies across the country.
Russia has been targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since early on its full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.
In recent months it has renewed its campaign of attacks on the power grid, causing frequent blackouts across the country.
In June, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had destroyed half of his country’s electricity-generating capacity since it began pummelling its energy facilities in late March.
Ukraine is buying energy from the European Union – however, this is not enough and so most days the country has a planned nationwide blackout to protect critical needs such as hospitals and military sites.
The Russian military has been making slow but steady advances in the east in recent months.
Meanwhile, Ukraine launched a surprise recent offensive into Kursk in Russia, which was seen as an attempt to draw troops away from the eastern front line. Experts say that effort has failed to materialise, with Moscow’s forces remaining broadly engaged in Ukraine.
On Monday, Ukraine tried to attack an oil refinery in Yaroslavl, a city north-east of Moscow, according to the regional governor. No casualties or damage have been reported.
And Russia’s defence ministry said it had destroyed nine drones over its Saratov region, which is 560 miles (900km) from the Ukrainian border.
Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, called on Ukraine’s allies to give permission to launch long-range attacks on Russia with Western-supplied weapons, in a message on Telegram.
Source Agencies
