KYIV (Reuters) – Explosions rocked several Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, early on Sunday, and neighboring NATO member Poland mobilized its planes after Russia launched its biggest missile attack since August and targeted electrical installations as winter approached, Ukrainian and Polish officials said.
Ukrainians have been preparing for weeks for a major attack on their electricity system, fearing damage that could cripple the grid, causing long blackouts and increasing psychological pressure at a critical moment in the war that began in February 2022.
According to Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky, Russia launched around 120 missiles and 90 drones as part of a “massive” combined airstrike against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
“The enemy has targeted our energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine. Unfortunately, damage was caused to the facilities by strikes and falling debris,” he said in a statement posted on social media.
“A new massive attack on the electricity system is underway. The enemy is attacking electricity production and transmission facilities throughout Ukraine,” wrote Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko, on Facebook.
“Due to the massive attack carried out by the Russian Federation using cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones against targets located, inter alia, in western Ukraine, Polish aircraft and allies have started operating in our airspace,” the operational command of the Polish armed forces indicated on its website.
“All available forces and resources (have been activated),” it was stated.
POWER SUPPLY OFF
The extent of the damage is not yet known. Authorities cut power to many parts of the city, including Kyiv and its surrounding areas and the Dnipropetrovsk region, as a precautionary measure, it was explained, to avoid a power surge in the event of damage.
Authorities in the Volhinia region in northwest Ukraine said energy infrastructure had suffered damage, but did not provide further details. Authorities often refuse to disclose the state of the electricity network in the context of war.
In Mikolaiv, in the south, two people were killed in a nighttime drone attack, the regional governor said. Explosions rocked the southeastern city of Zaporizhia and the Black Sea port of Odessa, Reuters witnesses said. Other explosions were reported in the areas of Krivy Rih in the south and Rivne in the west.
“Russia launched one of the largest air attacks: drones and missiles against peaceful cities, sleeping civilians, critical infrastructure,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha underlined.
VEILED CRITICISM AGAINST OLAF SCHOLZ
He described the strike as Moscow’s “real response” to leaders who have pursued relations with President Vladimir Putin, an apparent attack on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who spoke by telephone with the Russian leader on Friday for the first time since the end of 2022.
Air alerts were issued by the Ukrainian Air Force across the country.
Residents were called to take shelter and the air force said a number of missiles were crossing Ukrainian airspace.
Russia’s last major missile strike on Kyiv was on August 26. According to authorities, Russia then fired a salvo of more than 200 drones and missiles across the country, an attack which left seven people dead.
Poland, a NATO member and Ukraine’s neighbor, said on Sunday it had mobilized its air forces into its airspace as a security measure after the Russian attack, which it said used cruise missiles. , ballistic missiles and drones.
Poland “has activated all available forces and resources at its disposal, operational fighter jets have taken off and air defense and radar reconnaissance systems are at their highest level of readiness,” the operational command of the forces said Polish armies on the social network
(Pavel Polityuk, Tom Balmforth Valentyn Ogirenko in Kyiv, with contributions from Dan Peleschuk, written by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; French version Camille Raynaud and Claude Chendjou)
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