Russia launched around 120 missiles and 90 drones in a “massive” combined air strike on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday.
“The enemy’s target was our energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine. Unfortunately, there is damage to objects from strikes and falling debris,” he said in a statement on social media.
Russian forces launched a massive strike on energy facilities that supply Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, Russian news agencies reported, citing the defence ministry. Ukraine’s military airfield infrastructure was also hit, it added.
The latest attack came as fears are mounting about Moscow’s intentions to devastate Ukraine’s power generation capacity ahead of the cold winter.
Russia launches 120 missiles, 90 drones in ‘massive’ strike on Ukraine, says Zelenskiy
Trump’s return is an opportunity to confront urgent questions about Europe’s future
Zelenskiy says Ukraine must try to ensure war with Russia ends next year through diplomacy
Trump’s treatment of Zelenskiy as a spoiled child does not bode well for Ukraine
Mr Zelenskiy said various types of drones were deployed, he said, including Iranian-made Shaheds, as well as cruise, ballistic and aircraft-launched ballistic missiles. Ukrainian defence forces shot down 140 air targets, he said in a statement on Telegram.
“The enemy’s target was our energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine. Unfortunately, there is damage to objects from hits and falling debris. In Mykolaiv, as a result of a drone attack, two people were killed and six others were injured, including two children,” Mr Zelensky said.
The combined drone and missile attack was the most powerful in three months, according to Serhii Popko, the head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration.
Russian strikes have hammered Ukraine’s power infrastructure since Moscow’s all-out invasion of its neighbour in February 2022, prompting repeated emergency power shutdowns and nationwide rolling blackouts.
Ukrainian officials have routinely urged western allies to bolster the country’s air defences to counter assaults and allow for repairs.
Explosions were heard across Ukraine on Sunday, including in the capital, Kyiv, the key southern port of Odesa, as well as the country’s west and central regions, according to local reports.
One person was injured after the roof of a five-storey residential building caught fire in Kyiv’s historic centre, according to Mr Popko.
At least two people were killed and six were wounded, including two children, in the eastern city of Mykolaiv, according to local governor Vitalii Kim.
A thermal power plant operated by private energy company DTEK was “seriously damaged”, the company said in a statement on Telegram.
The operational command of Poland’s armed forces wrote on X that Polish and allied aircraft, including fighter jets, have been mobilised in Polish airspace because of the “massive” Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine. The steps were aimed to provide safety in Poland’s border areas, it said.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz said his conversation with Vladimir Putin on Friday had given no indication of a shift in the Russian president’s thinking on the war in Ukraine but defended his much-criticised decision to phone the Kremlin.
Speaking from Berlin airport on Sunday, immediately before his departure for the G20 summit in Brazil, Mr Scholz said it had been worth talking to Mr Putin to dispel any illusions he might harbour that the west was about to abandon its support for Ukraine.
He added, with reference to Mr Donald Trump’s imminent return to the US presidency, that it would also not be good if Washington were in regular contact with Mr Putin while no European leader was.
“The conversation was very detailed but contributed to a recognition that little has changed in the Russian president’s views of the war – and that’s not good news,” Mr Scholz told reporters. – Agencies