KIEV, UKRAINE (AP) — Russia has launched a “massive rocket attack” that hit critical infrastructure and residential buildings in 10 regions of Ukraine, the country’s president said Thursday. 3 weeks.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the barrage, which took place while many were asleep, as an attempt by Moscow to “re-intimidate the Ukrainians”.
“The occupiers can only terrorize civilians. That’s all they can do,” Zelensky said in an online statement.
The war reached a stalemate on the battlefield over the winter. Kremlin forces began targeting Ukraine’s power supply last October in an apparent attempt to demoralize civilians. Analysts have speculated that Russian ammunition may have been scarce, after which barrages became less frequent. The last major barrage he took place on 16 February.
The latest attacks left nearly half of Kiev’s consumers without heating, with temperatures hitting around 9 degrees Celsius (48 degrees Fahrenheit) in the middle of the spring thaw.
In southern Ukraine, the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has lost power following a missile attack, said nuclear power operator Energoatom.
Energoatom said it was the sixth time the power plant had lost power since it was taken over by Russia a few months ago, forcing it to rely on 18 diesel generators to keep it running for 10 days. rice field. Nuclear power plants require constant power to keep cooling systems running and avoid meltdowns.
“The countdown has begun,” said Energoatom.
Air raid sirens blared through the night across Ukraine, including the capital Kiev, with explosions in two areas west of the city. Defense systems were activated across the country.
Overall, Russia has launched 81 missiles and eight exploding Shahed drones, said Ukrainian military commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi. Thirty-four cruise missiles were intercepted and four drones were intercepted.
Viktor Bukhta, 57, a resident of a damaged house in Kiev’s Sviatcinski district, said three people were injured and the windows of his apartment were shattered, according to authorities.
“We went into the yard. People were injured, they helped, first aid kits were handed out from the car,” he told the Associated Press. “Then the car caught fire. We tried to put them out with the car’s fire extinguisher and got a little burn.”
Kiev city officials said the capital was hit with both missiles and explosive drones. Many were intercepted, but their energy infrastructure was attacked.
Smoke could be seen rising from a facility in Kiev’s Khoroshivsky district, and police had blocked all roads leading to it.
The Kiev sirens were lifted just before 8:00 am, and air raid sirens ceased about seven hours later.
Private power company DTEK reported that three power plants were damaged. There were no casualties, but the company said equipment was badly damaged.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, has no running water or heating after 15 missiles hit the area, Mayor Ihor Terekhov told Ukraine’s public broadcaster.
Terekhov added that mobile communications and public transport in the city were also disrupted as all trams and trolleybuses stopped due to the power shortage.
Five people were killed in the Lviv region after missiles hit residential areas, said Lviv Governor Maksym Kozytskyi. Three buildings were destroyed in the fire, and rescue workers combed through the rubble looking for more victims, he said.
Governor Serhii Lysak said six people were killed and two injured in multiple strikes targeting energy infrastructure and industrial facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
In the south, Odesa governor Maksim Marchenko said a strike in his area had hit homes and damaged several power lines. He said six missiles and one drone had been shot down.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Kharushchenko condemned the missile strike as a “barbaric and large-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure,” in a Facebook post saying that Kiev, Mikolayu, Kharkov, Zaporizhia, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, It said facilities in the Zhytomyr region were targeted.
Ukrainian Railways reported that 15 trains were delayed due to blackouts in certain areas.
According to supplier DTEK, preventive emergency blackouts were applied in the regions of Kiev, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Odessa. Klitschko said his 40% of Kiev consumers do not have heating due to emergency blackouts. The water supply was not interrupted, he said.
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