Russia attacks Ukrainian energy infrastructure with biggest airstrikes in weeks

cnn
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Russia carried out a “massive” missile attack against Ukrainian energy infrastructure overnight on Wednesday, according to local authorities, in the largest airstrike by Russian forces in weeks.

Russia used 76 air attack weapons in the assault, including 55 missiles and 21 drones launched from Russia and Russian-controlled areas, according to Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk. At least 59 weapons were destroyed overnight, he added.

The attacks targeted power generation and transmission facilities in the Ukrainian regions of Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsia, the country’s Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said. in Telegram.

“The enemy wants to deprive us of the ability to generate and transmit electricity in sufficient quantities. Saving electricity is the contribution of each of us to victory,” said Galuschenko.

At least three people were injured, including a woman and a man with multiple extremity injuries and shrapnel wounds who were taken to a hospital in the kyiv region, and an eight-year-old boy in the Kirovohrad region, police said. local authorities.

Moscow has stepped up efforts to cripple Ukraine’s energy system in the past month, as kyiv’s troops struggle to hold positions on key fronts, particularly in the east.

The five-month wait before the US Congress approved $61 billion in military aid to kyiv may have caused lasting damage that will be felt on the front lines for months to come.

Russian forces have used the “artillery drought” hampering Ukraine’s defenses since December to advance on the eastern front near Avdiivka, making the biggest advance since the early months of the war, and ahead of an anticipated Russian offensive later in the day. of May.

The latest Russian attack affected three thermal power plants managed by Ukraine’s largest electricity company, DTEK. It was the fifth time its infrastructure was attacked in a month and a half. Ukraine’s state grid operator Ukrenergo also reported “damage to generation facilities.”

Two critical energy infrastructure facilities in the Lviv region were attacked, one in the Chervonohrad district and another in the Stryi district, regional military officer Maksym Kozytskyi said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “all necessary services are already working to mitigate the consequences of Russian terrorism.”

“The whole world must understand who is who. The world must not give the new Nazism a chance,” he added in a post on X.

The attacks come as Ukraine celebrates Remembrance Day and Victory over Nazism in World War II on Wednesday.