Ukraine reports another large-scale Russian attack on the energy sector

NOS News•today, 09:45

Russia carried out another large-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy sector last night. President Zelensky writes this on the Telegram platform. He said Russia fired more than 50 missiles and 20 drones, causing damage to energy facilities across Ukraine.

According to the Ukrainian Energy Minister, energy networks in six different regions in the country were targeted. Except for Zaporizhia, all regions are far away from the front, such as Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk. As far as we know, there were no casualties from the attacks last night. Moscow has not yet responded.

A drone attack caused a fire at a power plant in the Poltava region, west of Kharkiv. Ukraine’s largest electricity company also reports major damage to equipment at three power plants. Little is known about other direct effects of the attacks. Previous attacks left many Ukrainians without power.

Missiles fired at Kyiv were destroyed. Witnesses told Reuters they heard explosions in the capital that sounded as if air defense systems were hitting aerial objects.

In recent months, Russia has regularly carried out air strikes on the Ukrainian energy sector. Moscow denies attacking civilians, but says Ukraine’s energy system is a legitimate military target.

The attack comes on the day Ukraine commemorates the end of World War II. Ukraine previously celebrated this on May 9, just like Russia, but last year Zelensky moved the celebration forward one day to show solidarity with the rest of Europe. Many European countries celebrate the liberation on May 8.