Ukrainian authorities say the attacks damaged infrastructure in five regions of the country.
Russian forces launched a series of missiles and drones across Ukraine that damaged energy infrastructure in five regions, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine’s national grid operator Ukrenergo said on Saturday that the attacks hit facilities in the eastern Donetsk, southeastern Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, as well as the Kirovohrad and Ivano-Frankivsk regions in the center and west of the country, respectively.
“This morning the Russians launched another attack on Ukrainian energy facilities. Since March, this is the sixth massive and complex missile and drone attack against civilian energy infrastructure,” said Ukrenergo.
There was no immediate comment from Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukrainian air defense shot down 35 of 53 Russian missiles and 46 of 47 Russian drones, the Air Force commander said.
Since March, Russia has intensified its bombing of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, halting most thermal and hydroelectric production, causing blackouts and pushing electricity imports to record levels.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power generation company, said its two thermal power plants were hit and equipment was “seriously damaged.”
Regional authorities reported that firefighters were extinguishing fires in several locations following the attacks. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
US relaxes rules on use of weapons
The latest missile and drone attack came a day after the US announced it was easing a ban on Ukraine using its weapons inside Russian territory to help the country defend the northeast Kharkiv region from attacks.
The move came as France and other European countries also indicated that Ukraine would be authorized to use its weapons on military targets inside Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged his country’s allies to allow the use of their long-range weaponry to strike targets on Russian soil, amid a wave of attacks this month, especially in Kharkiv.
Local authorities in Kharkiv said on Friday that a Russian strike at approximately midnight (2100 GMT) killed at least three people and injured 16 after a missile struck an apartment block in the city, Ukraine’s second largest.
Last week, authorities said 19 people were killed after a Russian attack on a hardware superstore.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
