At least six people have been killed after Russia launched a massive attack across Ukraine, seriously damaging some power and water supplies.
Explosions rang out in several cities including Kyiv on Monday morning, as more than half of the country’s regions came under attack.
Authorities in Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr andDnipropetrovsk regions reported people had died in the huge air raid, which featured missiles and drones.
Russia’s defence ministry confirmed it had targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure – one of its long-term tactics – and said all its targets were hit.
The barrage of drone and missile attacks began across the country overnight on Monday and continued well into the morning, Ukraine’s air force said on Telegram.
Explosions were heard in numerous cities from Lutsk in the west to Dnipro in the east as people were urged to stay in shelters and the entire country was put under air raid alert.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had fired more than 100 missiles and about 100 drones.
“This was one of the largest strikes,” he said, adding there was a lot of damage to energy facilities.
Mr Zelensky also called on Western allies including Britain, America and France to change their rules and let Ukraine use their weapons to strike deeper inside Russia. Ukraine is allowed to use some Western weapons to hit targets inside Russia – but not long-range weapons.
And he said “we could do much more to protect lives” if European air forces worked with Ukraine’s air defence.
Some 15 regions of Ukraine were targeted by Russia, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said, using weapons including drones, cruise missiles and supersonic missiles.
“There are wounded and dead,” Mr Shmyhal said on the Telegram social media app.
Those who died included:
- Two men – one aged 69 and another aged 47 – were killed in separate attacks in the Dnipropetrovsk region, local governor Sergiy Lysak said. Others were injured including a 14-year-old girl, he added
- A 69-year-old man was killed in the Dnipropetrovsk region, local governor Sergiy Lysak said, adding that several houses had been damaged
- A man was killed when his house was hit in Zaporizhzhia, said the governor
- The mayor of Lutsk said one person had been killed when an “infrastructure facility” was hit. Five others were wounded and most parts of the city had no running water, he added
- In Izyum in Kharkiv region, a man was killed in a missile strike, the regional head said
- And in Zhytomyr region in western Ukraine, a woman died after homes and infrastructure buildings were hit by missiles, the governor said.
In the central Poltava region, five people had been injured when an “industrial facility” was hit, the governor said – as he urged people to stay in shelters until bedtime.
And seven people were injured in a strike on Odesa region, including two children, the local authorities reported.
The attacks have caused serious damage to some infrastructure, with power outages reported in many cities – including Kyiv – and water supplies disrupted.
Emergency blackouts have been imposed, energy company DTEK warned, adding that its engineers were working to return electricity supplies across the country.
On Telegram, Russia said it had used high-precision long-range air and sea-based weapons, as well as drones, in what it called a “massive attack”.
Russia has been targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since early on in its full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.
In recent months it has renewed its campaign of attacks on the power grid, causing frequent blackouts across the country.
In June, President Zelensky said Russia had destroyed half of his country’s electricity-generating capacity since it began pummelling its energy facilities in late March.
Ukraine is buying energy from the European Union. However, this is not enough and so most days, the country has a planned nationwide blackout to protect critical needs such as hospitals and military sites.
Russia’s defence ministry said it attacked electricity and gas facilities, as well as sites storing Western weapons.
“All designated targets were hit, resulting in power outages and disrupted rail transport of weapons and ammunition to the front line,” it said.
The Russian military has been making slow but steady advances in the east in recent months.
Meanwhile, Ukraine launched a surprise recent offensive into Kursk in Russia, which was seen as an attempt to draw troops away from the eastern front line. Experts say that effort has failed to materialise, with Moscow’s forces remaining broadly engaged in Ukraine.
On Monday, Ukraine tried to attack an oil refinery in Yaroslavl, a city north-east of Moscow, according to the regional governor. No casualties or damage have been reported.
And Russia’s defence ministry said it had destroyed nine drones over its Saratov region, which is 560 miles (900km) from the Ukrainian border.
Andriy Yermak, President Zelensky’s chief of staff, called on Ukraine’s allies to give permission to launch long-range attacks on Russia with Western-supplied weapons, in a message on Telegram. – BBC
By Francesca Gillett
