Russia again launched strikes Thursday against several cities in Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, bombardments which coincide with the first snowfall in a country undermined by power cuts caused by Russia.
The country had already been hit by massive strikes on Tuesday, which come after another humiliating Russian retreat.
Russia, under pressure from a Ukrainian counter-offensive, abandoned the north of the Kherson region (south) on November 11, although it claims annexation.
Tuesday’s strikes had already deprived some 10 million Ukrainians of electricity as winter approached, according to Kyiv.
The capital experienced its first snowfall on Thursday, which covered cars parked in the streets. The regional governor, Oleksiï Kouleba, had warned the day before that the coming week would be “difficult”, with temperatures which could drop “to -10° C”.
Thursday morning in Dnipro (center-east), 14 people including a 15-year-old girl were injured in a bombardment, regional governor Valentin Reznitchenko said on Telegram.
“All are hospitalized in the city,” he added.
Two infrastructure sites were hit in this Russian strike, according to the presidency.
In the Kyiv region, two Russian cruise missiles and Iranian-made kamikaze drones “Shahed” were shot down by the Ukrainian defense, the city’s military administration said
An AFP journalist saw one of these missiles fly over a residential area in the east of the capital.
In the Odessa region (south), the Russians hit an infrastructure site injuring three people, the regional administration said.
“Worsening of the situation»
National electricity operator Ukrenergo announced the extension of power cuts for the day due to the “worsening of the situation”.
“Due to a sharp cooling, electricity consumption increased in regions of Ukraine”, which “further complicated the already difficult situation in the electricity system”, leading to “wider restrictions” in consumption energy across the country, Ukrenergo lamented on Facebook.
“This is a necessary measure to preserve the stability of the energy system after the sixth targeted Russian missile attack against energy facilities,” the group said in reference to Tuesday’s massive Russian strikes.
Thursday morning, the capital Kyiv experienced its first snowfall, while many neighborhoods were without power. A fine blanket of snow covered the cars parked in the streets.
The regional governor, Oleksiï Kouleba, warned on Wednesday that the coming week would be “difficult”, with temperatures which could drop “to -10° C”.
On the diplomatic and economic level, the agreement allowing Ukrainian grain exports from Ukrainian ports has been renewed for the four winter months, alleviating concerns about a possible global food crisis.
Three of the parties involved in this agreement, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations confirmed Thursday morning the continuation of this agreement which also involves Russia, but Moscow has not yet communicated at this stage.
The “Grain Initiative” in the Black Sea, which expired on Friday evening, allowed more than 11 million tons of grain to leave Ukrainian ports in four months, after a long blockade of Ukrainian ports by the Russian army in spring.