Winter promises to be harsh in Ukraine. Dozens of missiles and drones were launched overnight from Saturday to Sunday on the country's energy network, now half unusable, in “the largest air attack” launched since the start of the war. Several oblasts, Ukrainian regions, are now without electricity. Poland, which fears for the security of its own territory in the West, has placed its air force on alert. Volodymyr Zelensky calls on his allies to help him rebuild the electricity network, at the start of a winter which promises to be even more difficult to overcome than the previous ones.
Information to remember
⇒ A massive attack took place overnight on the Ukrainian energy network
⇒ At least three regions are already experiencing power cuts, in kyiv and the East
⇒ Poland launched its air force in response to Russia's attack
Ukraine: the energy network under “massive” attack
“Russia launched one of its biggest air attacks: drones and missiles against peaceful cities, sleeping civilians, essential infrastructure,” denounced the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Andriï Sybiga. The country was targeted by “massive” strikes against its energy infrastructure, Energy Minister German Galouchchenko announced earlier this Sunday, November 17. Russian forces are “attacking electricity generation and transmission facilities throughout Ukraine,” he said.
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Ukrainians will have to survive another harsh winter. kyiv is urging its Western partners to help rebuild its electricity grid, a project that requires significant investment, and to provide it with more air defense equipment to counter Russian bombing.
120 missiles and 90 drones launched by Russia in the night
During the night from Saturday to Sunday, Russia used around 120 missiles and 90 drones, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who says Russia has already destroyed half of the country's energy capacity. Local authorities and Ukrainian media reported numerous explosions across the country, notably in kyiv this Sunday morning, but also in the South in Zaporizhia, Odessa and Mykolaiv, as well as in Cherniguiv (north). The mayor of kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, reported one person injured when a drone fragment fell on an apartment building. The Ukrainian State Emergency Service also reports that the attack on Mykolaiv “killed two women and injured six people, including two children.”
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In Ukraine, power cuts in several regions
“Emergency power cuts in kyiv, kyiv region, Donetsk region, Dnipropetrovsk region,” DTEK wrote on Telegram. The Ukrainian energy operator announced this Sunday “emergency power cuts” in the kyiv region and in two regions in the east of the country, due to an ongoing Russian attack against the national energy network already fragile.
Polish army on alert
The Polish army announced this Sunday that it had taken off fighter planes and mobilized “all available forces and resources” to protect its territory during a “massive attack” of Russian missiles and drones against Ukraine. “Due to a massive attack by the Russian Federation carrying out cruise missile, ballistic missile and drone strikes against facilities in, among other places, western Ukraine, Operations of Polish and allied aircraft in our airspace have begun,” the Polish Central Command wrote on the social network X.
