Ukrainian attack cuts power to some Russian-occupied areas
A Ukrainian attack on a power plant in Russian territory in eastern Ukraine cut power supplies to towns and cities overnight, pro-Russian authorities there said on Sunday, less than a day after Moscow sent a record number of attack drones towards Kiev launched. Ukrainian capital.
The overnight attack was another sign of Kiev’s determination to damage its opponent’s electricity infrastructure before what many in Ukraine expect will be another winter attack by Russia on Ukraine’s power grid.
Denis Pushilin, the pro-Moscow leader in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region, said most of the drones launched by Ukraine in the area overnight had been intercepted, but that “due to the massiveness not all of the attacks were shot down. down.”
“The situation is not easy,” he said via messaging app Telegraph, adding that some cities and districts were left without lights. He did not say whether the attack involved drones or missiles, or a combination of the two.
The attack hit the thermal power plant in Starobesheve, a town at least 40 kilometers east of the region’s front line, Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti said. It said power was out in half of the regional capital Donetsk, and in half of the port city of Mariupol, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) to the south.
Energy infrastructure has become a key theater in the war, alongside the frontline battles in southern and eastern Ukraine and the battle for control of the Black Sea. In the absence of a major military breakthrough this year on either side, Ukraine’s ability to survive a second winter of attacks has been a concern for many people.
Last year, starting in October, Russia launched a concerted campaign to deprive Ukraine of energy, apparently with the aim of disrupting the country’s combat capabilities and undermining the Ukrainians’ will to continue the war.
Ukrainian authorities say a barrage of missiles and exploding drone strikes would have knocked out the country’s power grid if not for the efforts of utilities and support from Kiev’s Western partners. Still, the attack left many Ukrainians in the dark and cold and damaged the country’s economy.
The Ukrainian energy sector has extensively prepared for the likelihood of another winter attack, repairing and shielding substations and installing additional energy production capacity. Air defenses, including Patriot missile systems provided by the country’s NATO allies, have also made the country less vulnerable.
At the same time, Ukraine has increased its attacks on Russian-occupied territory and Russia itself.
RIA Novosti reported that the country’s air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones in western Russia last night and nine others on Sunday. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said some drones flew towards his city. According to RIA, drones were also intercepted in the Bryansk, Kaluga and Tula regions of western Russia.
Ukraine has specifically targeted energy infrastructure, carrying out at least five attacks on at least three electricity substations and an oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region since October, according to Ukrainian authorities, who say they only attack power plants directly related with the Russian army. campaign.
Five people were injured in Russia’s attack on Kiev overnight into Saturday, an attack that Ukraine said involved about 75 drones and that President Volodymyr Zelensky described as “deliberate terror.” Russian forces then followed up with further drone strikes overnight into Sunday.
The Ukrainian air force said on Telegram that it had shot down eight of the nine drones launched by Russia. There was no mention of where the drone that broke through the defenses had struck.
Constant Méheut reporting contributed