Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukraine imposed emergency power cuts across most of the country on Sunday, a day after Russia unleashed large-scale attacks on energy infrastructure and claimed it had made gains in the eastern province of Donetsk.
Lockdowns were implemented in all but three regions of Ukraine after Saturday’s drone and missile attack. attack on energy targets that injured at least 19 people.
Ukraine’s state power grid operator Ukrenergo said the shutdowns affected both industrial and domestic consumers.
Continued Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grid in recent weeks have forced the government to institute rolling blackouts across the country. However, without adequate air defenses to counter attacks and allow for repairs, shortages could still worsen as needs increase in late summer and cold winter.
Among the most important recent strikes are an April bombing which damaged the largest thermal power plant in kyiv and a massive attack on May 8 which targeted power generation and transmission facilities in several regions.
Following Saturday’s bombing, Ukraine’s air force said Sunday that air defenses had shot down all 25 drones launched overnight.
Russia claimed on Sunday that it had taken control of the village of Umanske in the partially Russian-occupied Donetsk region.
Russia new coordinated offensive has focused on the northeastern region of Kharkiv, but appears to include testing Ukrainian defenses in Donetsk, further south, and also launching raids on the northern regions of Sumy and Chernihiv.
In Russia, six people were wounded in shelling in the city of Shebekino in the Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Sunday. He also said that a local official, the deputy head of the Korochansky district, had been killed by “detonation of ammunition.” He did not give further details.
In the neighboring Kursk region, three people were injured on Sunday when an explosive device was launched from a drone, according to acting regional head Alexey Smirnov.
Speaking at the main Asian security conference in Singapore, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused china on Sunday to help Russia disrupt an upcoming Peace conference organized by Switzerland about the war in Ukraine.
Also on Sunday, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby confirmed that President Joe Biden agreed to allow Ukraine to use some U.S.-provided weapons to strike inside Russia and relieve the “incredible downward pressure” it is experiencing. Russia has exercised over Kharkov.
Earlier this week, four US officials, who requested anonymity, said President Joe Biden had given the go-ahead to Ukraine use American weapons to attack inside Russia for the limited purpose of defending Kharkiv.
Ukraine asked for permission to use U.S.-provided weapons to attack “imminent threats just across the border,” Kirby said Sunday on ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos.
“We’re talking about military emplacements, weapons positions and that sort of thing. Logistical bases that the Russians were using to create a kind of buffer zone so they could continue attacking Kharkiv.” Kirby said the permit is “limited to the Kharkiv region and is limited with respect to the types of targets they can achieve and how far they can go.”
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Morton reported from London. Associated Press writer Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.
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