(Kyiv) Ukraine warned on Wednesday of possible power cuts at the end of the day, with the national operator predicting a “particularly difficult” situation after a new “massive” Russian attack which targeted the energy network and caused a dead and around ten injured.
“The enemy is not giving up its plans to deprive Ukrainians of light. A new massive attack on our energy industry! », Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on Telegram.
These attacks targeted electricity production and transmission facilities in the regions of Poltava (east), Kirovograd (center), Zaporizhia (south), Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsia (west), he said. .
The city of Kherson, in the south, was also “partially deprived of electricity” due to “enemy strikes”, said Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
The national electricity company Ukrenergo warned that “from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., power cuts are possible across Ukraine”. It asked its customers to “use electricity sparingly” to cope with a situation that is expected to be “particularly difficult”.
“The Russians have dealt a new massive blow to thermal and hydroelectric power stations,” lamented the operator, adding that this was the fifth “massive” attack against the energy network since March 22.
The Ukrainian Air Force claimed to have shot down 39 of 55 missiles launched by Russia, as well as 20 of 21 attack drones.
According to the DTEK company, the largest private investor in the energy sector in Ukraine, three thermal power plants were “seriously damaged”.
It said its facilities had been bombed about 180 times since the war began in February 2022, including five times in the past six weeks.
Russia has been bombing Ukraine’s energy network for months, causing significant damage and widespread power outages.
The nighttime attacks killed a 65-year-old woman in a village in the southern Kherson region of Bilozerka and injured three other people, according to the local prosecutor’s office.
One person was injured in the Dnipropetrovsk region (south), two in Brovary, near Kyiv, and at least two others in the capital.
An 8-year-old child was also injured in the Kirovograd region (center), Governor Andriï Raikovych said on Telegram.
President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced “Russian terror”.
This Wednesday, May 8, “the day of commemoration of the victory against Nazism during the Second World War, Putin the Nazi launched a massive attack against Ukraine,” he protested.
“The world must not give the new Nazism the slightest chance,” pleaded the Ukrainian president, who is urging his allies to deliver more military aid.
Railways affected
According to the military administration of the city of Kyiv, Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers fired several cruise missiles at the capital, which was placed on alert for three hours. All these missiles were shot down, she said.
Railway infrastructure was also targeted in the Kherson region.
“The tracks were damaged,” explained Governor Oleksandr Prokudin, adding that traffic on one of the lines was limited.
Russia has recently stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s railways, essential for trade, transport of civilians and military supplies.
Targeting them can help stop military supplies, particularly from the West.
Rail infrastructure is particularly vital in Ukraine because since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, all civilian air traffic has been paralyzed there.
Kyiv says Moscow has stepped up its air and ground attacks ahead of national May 9 celebrations, when Russia commemorates victory in World War II, and to take advantage of Ukraine’s pending arms shortage. arrival of crucial arms supplies particularly from the United States.
reference: www.lapresse.ca