According to Ukrainian officials, Russia unleashed one of the most intense attacks on Ukraine in the almost three-year conflict on Sunday, causing power outages and raising concerns about a dangerous winter ahead.
As Russia’s invasion extended past its thousandth day, hundreds of missiles and drones flew across Kyiv’s skies, killing at least two people, injuring a dozen more, and causing damage to the nation’s already struggling energy grid.
The strikes coincided with Ukraine’s withdrawal from Russian forces and the reelection of Donald Trump as president, casting doubt on the backing of its principal ally, the United States.
Ukraine’s energy operator DTEK on Sunday announced emergency power cuts in the Kyiv region and two in the east.
German Galushchenko, the Ukrainian Energy Minister, had earlier claimed on Telegram that Russian soldiers were “attacking electricity generation and transmission facilities throughout Ukraine” and that “a massive attack on our energy system is ongoing.”
Early in the morning, AFP correspondents heard explosions in Kyiv and near Sloviansk in the Donetsk area. Andriy Sybiga, the foreign minister of Kyiv, described the strikes as “one of the largest air attacks” of the war.
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, half of Ukraine’s energy production capability has been damaged by Russia’s ceaseless aircraft assault.
Zelensky said on Sunday that Kyiv’s air defences shot down 140 of the 120 missiles and 90 drones that Moscow fired at Ukraine.
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