War in Ukraine, day 233 | Electrical installation damaged near Kyiv, fighting in the South

(Kyiv) A missile severely damaged a key energy facility in Ukraine’s capital region, the country’s electricity system operator said on Saturday as the Russian military worked to cut off water and electricity in populated areas.

Kyiv Region Governor Oleksiy Kuleba said the strike left no one dead or injured.

Electricity utility Ukrenergo said repair crews were hard at work restoring power, but warned residents of possible outages.

The Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, urged residents of the Kyiv region and those of three neighboring regions to reduce their energy consumption during evening rush hours.

After a truck bomb explosion a week ago damaged the bridge that connects Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula, the Kremlin launched what are believed to be its largest coordinated missile attacks since the initial invasion of Ukraine.

Large-scale retaliatory attacks this week hit residential buildings, killing dozens of people, as well as civilian infrastructure such as power plants near Kyiv and other towns far from the frontlines of the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow saw no need for more massive strikes, but that its military would continue its selective strikes. He said that of 29 targets the Russian military planned to eliminate in attacks this week, seven were undamaged and would be phased out.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, interpreted President Putin’s remarks as intended to counter criticism from pro-war Russian bloggers who “widely welcomed renewed strikes against Ukrainian cities, but warned that a short campaign would be ineffective. »

“Putin knew he would not be able to sustain high-intensity strikes for long due to a dwindling arsenal of high-precision missiles,” the think tank stated.

Areas of southern Ukraine that Vladimir Putin illegally designated as Russian territory last month remained at the center of fighting on Saturday.

Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Moscow administration based in the mainly Russian-occupied Kherson region, reminded residents that they could evacuate to Crimea and cities in southwestern Russia as forces Ukrainians are trying to make their way to the regional capital.

Moscow has offered free accommodation to residents who have agreed to leave, after requests from concerned regional leaders to evacuate. Supported by the Kremlin, they on Thursday asked civilians to evacuate to ensure their safety and give more maneuverability to Russian troops.

Ukrainian troops tried to advance south along the banks of the Dnieper, but gained ground, according to Stremousov.

“The lines of defense worked and the situation remained under the full control of the Russian military,” he wrote on his messaging app channel.

In neighboring Zaporizhia region, Governor Oleksandr Starukh said the Russian military had carried out strikes with Iranian-made suicide drones and S-300 missiles. Some experts have argued that the Russian military’s use of long-range missiles may reflect a shortage of dedicated precision weapons to hit ground targets.

North and east of Kherson, Russian shelling killed two civilians in the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to Governor Valentyn Resnichenko. He mentioned that the bombardment of the town of Nikopol, located across the Dnieper from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, damaged about ten residential buildings, several shops and a transportation facility.