Russia launches 99 drones and missiles against Ukraine’s energy system

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kyiv, Ukraine – Moscow launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Friday, with a massive bombardment by 99 drones and missiles that hit regions across the country, Ukraine’s military said.

Warnings of airstrikes echoed across the country, and 10 Ukrainian regions were attacked, the country’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

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Russia has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine in recent days, launching several missile barrages at the capital kyiv and attacking energy infrastructure across the country in apparent retaliation for recent Ukrainian airstrikes against the Russian border region of Belgorod. However, these sporadic attacks have been common throughout the war.

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In the winter of 2022-23, Russia attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing frequent blackouts across the country. Many in Ukraine and the West hoped that Russia could repeat this strategy this winter, but Russia focused its attacks on Ukraine’s defense industries.

Ukraine’s state grid operator Ukrenergo said Friday’s attack deliberately targeted thermal and hydroelectric power plants in the central and western regions.

DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private electricity operator, also said three of its thermal plants had been damaged in the attack.

Separately, five people, including a five-year-old girl, were wounded during the attack in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, local governor Serhii Lysak said.

He later said another man had been killed and another wounded in another drone strike on Friday.

The bombing in western Ukraine forced the Polish Armed Forces to deploy its own aircraft, the country’s operational command reported on social media.

Last week, Warsaw demanded an explanation from Moscow, after one of its missiles briefly strayed into Polish airspace during a major missile attack on Ukraine, prompting the NATO member to activate F-fighter jets. 16.

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Romania’s Defense Ministry also said Friday that an investigation was launched after fragments that appear to be from a drone were identified on its territory on Thursday afternoon in an agricultural area in Braila County, near the border with Ukraine. .

He did not provide additional details, although since the start of the large-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, NATO member Romania has confirmed drone fragments on its territory on several occasions.

Belgorod was also attacked on Friday, Russia’s Defense Ministry wrote on social media. He said he shot down 15 Ukrainian projectiles and that falling debris damaged several residential buildings. No victims were reported.

Stephen McGrath in Sighisoara, Romania, contributed to this report.

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