Russian strikes “severely” damaged three Ukrainian thermal power plants overnight from Thursday to Friday and caused power outages in certain regions, Ukrainian authorities said, accusing Moscow of “barbaric” attacks against their energy network.
A separate drone attack caused the death of a civilian and injured a man in the town of Myrivska, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region (south-center), Serguii Lyssak, later said.
The Ukrainian air forces, for their part, said they had destroyed the vast majority of the 99 Russian missiles and drones – a particularly high number – launched during this new wave of night bombings.
Moscow has intensified its airstrikes against Ukraine in recent weeks, particularly targeting the energy network and saying it is acting in retaliation for kyiv’s attacks in its border regions.
In its daily report, the Russian army confirmed having targeted energy infrastructure during the night, but also Ukrainian “anti-aircraft defenses” with missiles, particularly hypersonic, and drones.
A total of ten regions across the country were targeted and six people, including a child, were injured in the strikes, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said.
Three Ukrainian thermal power plants suffered significant damage after Russian fire, Ukrainian energy supplier DTEK said, without giving the location of these installations.
“The occupiers attacked three DTEK thermal power plants. The equipment was seriously damaged,” the company said in a statement, adding that its engineers had “quickly” reacted to deal with the damage.
“Massive attack”
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said that “Russia (had) continued its barbaric attacks against the Ukrainian energy system”. In some areas, the power had to be cut, he said, without specifying the extent of these cuts.
“Ukraine needs more air defense systems to secure its essential infrastructure and protect its population,” argued Mr. Chmygal.
Energy Minister German Galushchenko previously said a “massive attack” had particularly targeted energy production sites in the Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, and Cherkasy regions.
The governor of Dnipropetrovk, Serguiï Lyssak, reported that “several energy installations” had been damaged in his region.
kyiv is calling on its Western allies to send it more aid, and faster. But, in Brussels as in Washington, political divisions have hampered the delivery of arms and the sending of funds in recent months.
Ukrainian officials insist in particular on sending additional Patriot batteries. This powerful and expensive anti-aircraft system was first supplied to Ukraine in spring 2023.
Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky, in an interview broadcast on Friday, stressed that the advantage of the Russian army in terms of ammunition fired was “six to one”, a few days ago.
According to him, with better air defense and more ammunition, Ukraine “without a doubt” could have kept some of the positions it lost recently.
Oleksandr Syrsky also affirmed that Russia had “significantly increased the activity of its aviation”, using in particular guided aerial bombs “which destroy our positions”.
“Intense aerial activity”
The Ukrainian air forces said Friday they had destroyed “84 aerial targets,” including 26 missiles and 58 Iranian-made Shahed drones.
In total, Russia launched 99, mostly drones, during this “powerful” air attack, Ukrainian forces said.
The Russian army launches missiles or drones against its neighbor’s territory almost every night, but their number is generally lower.
The Polish military reported increased surveillance of its airspace, days after a Russian missile fired towards towns in western Ukraine flew over Polish territory for 39 seconds.