The attacks hit six power plants in Kiev, Kharkov, and the surrounding regions, the Defense Ministry says<\/p>\n
Russian forces launched an overnight barrage against energy and communications infrastructure across Ukraine, targeting facilities that support the Ukrainian military, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.
\nIn a statement on Wednesday, the ministry said high-precision ground-based weapons and long-range attack drones were used to attack facilities in Kiev, its suburbs, and Kharkov Region.
\nIn Kiev, the ministry said the strikes hit the Darnytskaya combined heat and power plant (CHP-4) and Kiev CHP-5, which it said were supplying power to Ukrainian military installations and defense manufacturers. It also reported that it hit the ATM Ukrsibbank data center, which was used for collecting intelligence about Russian forces.<\/p>\n
In the region of Kiev, the targets included Kiev CHP-6, the Trypilska thermal power plant, and the Kievskaya electricity substation. According to the ministry, the facilities supplied power to military logistics hubs, weapons storage sites, and defense enterprises.
\nIn Kharkov and the surrounding region, Russian forces struck Kharkov CHP-5 and the Zmievskaya thermal power plant, which supplied electricity to military-industrial enterprises and Ukrainian defense installations.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky confirmed the attacks, saying Russia launched 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones and loitering munitions overnight. \u201cAt least 600,000 people are currently, unfortunately, without electricity,\u201d he said, warning that further outages are possible. He added that significant damage was done to 26 elements of Ukraine\u2019s power system and four oil and gas facilities.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Zelensky claims West gave no warning of latest Russian strike<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that it shot down four missiles out of 39, amid reports of critically low stocks of US-made Patriot interceptors.
\nKiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko claimed that three people were killed and at least 22 were injured in the barrage, adding that the attacks caused extensive electricity outages.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Trump \u2018betrayed Ukraine\u2019 \u2013 US senators<\/p>\n
The head of Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine\u2019s state railway operator, Aleksandr Pertsovsky, also reported strikes on infrastructure in five regions \u2013 Kharkov, Kiev, Vinnitsa, Khmelnitsky, and Ternopol \u2013 with locomotive and carriage depots, maintenance facilities, railway stations, and rolling stock coming under attack. He described the material damage as substantial, adding that railway personnel did not suffer any casualties.
\nThe attacks come amid growing tensions between Kiev and Washington over intelligence sharing. US President Donald Trump recently said \u201cit\u2019s time for Ukraine to get a new president,\u201d as Zelensky\u2019s term expired more than two years ago. He also urged the Ukrainian leader to stop striking Russian oil refineries. Zelensky replied that he is ready to do so if Russia stops attacking Ukrainian energy facilities.
\nFollowing the strikes, Zelensky said Ukraine\u2019s Western backers failed to provide advance warnings about Russian ballistic missile launches for the second time that week. He also claimed that the US threatened to suspend intelligence sharing unless Ukraine stops attacking Russian refineries.
\nHowever, he stressed that cooperation has not been halted, echoing Trump\u2019s earlier remarks in which he said the US is \u201chelping [Ukraine], and we are sharing intel.\u201d
\nThe latest barrage came after the Russian Defense Ministry vowed earlier this month to intensify strikes on military-related facilities in Ukraine in response to Zelensky\u2019s threat to step up attacks on Russian oil refineries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The attacks hit six power plants in Kiev, Kharkov, and the surrounding regions, the Defense Ministry says Russian forces launched an overnight barrage against energy and communications infrastructure across Ukraine,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t