Ukraine: Russian attacks damage energy facilities

“During the night, the enemy attacked an energy facility in a central region. Some equipment was damaged,” the Energy Ministry said, adding that police and emergency services had been called to the scene.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said this month that Russian drone and missile attacks had halved Ukraine’s electricity generation capacity compared with a year earlier.

He called on allies to send more air defense systems to Ukraine to ward off systematic attacks on critical infrastructure.

The Kremlin says its forces are not attacking civilians or civilian infrastructure, but the Russian military says it is carrying out retaliatory attacks on energy facilities.

In the western region of Lviv, which has been spared the worst fighting of the war, now in its third year, the Energy Ministry said the barrage had “damaged overhead power lines and electrical installations.”

The governor of the western region, which borders EU and NATO member Poland, said two civilians, a 47-year-old and a 70-year-old, were injured in the overnight attacks.

The Air Force said air defense systems shot down 19 of a total of 21 Iranian-made attack drones deployed by Russia overnight.

Energy officials warned this week that more planned and emergency blackouts are likely in the coming weeks. Repairs to the damaged power plants could take years and cost millions of dollars, authorities say.

bur-jbr/brw/yad