Ukraine says Russia damaged four power plants in “massive” overnight attack

Kyiv:

Russia launched a “massive” missile attack on Ukraine overnight, damaging four power plants in the latest assault on the country’s energy supplies, officials in Kiev said on Saturday.

Moscow has launched some of the biggest-ever attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities in recent months, disrupting a significant part of production and triggering blackouts and power rationing across the country.

Ukraine also fired more than 60 drones into southern Russia overnight, Moscow said, in one of the biggest nighttime drone strikes ever. Kiev said it had hit two oil refineries and a military air base.

“The Russian military has carried out another massive missile attack against Ukraine,” the Ukrainian army said in its regular morning update.

“The enemy has once again attacked the country’s energy infrastructure. In particular, facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions were attacked. There is damage to equipment,” Energy Minister German Galushchenko said in a post on Facebook.

The regions of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk are in western Ukraine, on the border with the EU and hundreds of kilometers from the front lines.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Moscow fired 34 missiles, of which 21 were shot down.

Kiev says Moscow is stepping up its air and ground attacks ahead of national celebrations on May 9, when Russia marks victory in World War II, and as Ukraine awaits the arrival of crucial US weapons.

– Energy rationing –

Power operator DTEK said equipment at four of its thermal power plants was “severely damaged” in the night strikes.

State electricity operator Ukrenergo said it disconnected its main overhead power line in the west of the country as a preventive measure.

Authorities asked energy users to limit energy use.

“We ask all consumers to consume electricity in moderation. Industry is asked to maximize electricity imports and use alternative energy sources,” Ukrenergo said in a statement.

The head of the western region of Lviv appealed to residents not to use kettles, irons, washing machines and microwaves between 7pm and 10pm to preserve limited power supplies.

A separate shelling on a village near the border with Russia in the northeast region of Kharkiv killed one person on Saturday, Ukraine’s state emergency services agency said.

One person was also killed and eight injured in shelling in the southern region of Kherson, Ukraine’s national police said.

Nighttime missile attacks injured two people in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, regional governor Sergiy Lysak said, and injured one in the northeast region of Kharkiv, emergency services said.

– 68 drones shot down –

Ukraine also launched its own massive drone attack in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region overnight.

A Ukrainian defense source told AFP that its drones struck two oil refineries and a military airfield in the region, east of the annexed Crimean peninsula.

“Ukrainian drones hit the atmospheric distillation columns of the Ilsky and Slovyansky refineries. These are essential technological facilities,” the source said.

Russian authorities in the Krasnodar region reported a fire at an oil refinery in the city of Slavyansk-on-Kuban.

As a result, the refinery suspended operations, Russian state media reported, citing a company representative.

Videos and photos on social media showed a large fire breaking out overnight at the site, following a series of explosions.

Moscow previously said Ukraine had launched one of the largest attempts at nighttime drone strikes in the Krasnodar region.

“Air defenses destroyed and intercepted 66 Ukrainian drones over the territory of the Krasnodar region and two over the Crimean peninsula,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Kiev has struck several Russian oil refineries in the western part of the country in recent months, despite reports of concern in Washington that the attacks could be seen as an escalation and could raise global oil prices.

Ukraine claims that targeting Russia’s vital energy sector is legitimate as it is a source of fuel and funds for the Russian military.

(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)