Ukrainian officials report that Russian forces have launched a series of missile and drone attacks across Ukraine, damaging infrastructure in five regions.
According to Ukraine’s national grid operator Ukrenergo, the strikes targeted energy facilities in the eastern Donetsk, southeastern Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, as well as the Kirovohrad and Ivano-Frankivsk regions in the center and west of the country. “This morning, the Russians launched another strike on Ukrainian energy facilities. Since March, this is already the sixth massive, complex, missile and drone attack against civilian energy infrastructure,” Ukrenergo stated.
Russia has not immediately commented on the attacks, which come as part of the ongoing conflict following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukraine's air defense successfully intercepted 35 of 53 Russian missiles and 46 of 47 Russian drones, according to the air force commander.
Since March, Russia has intensified its assaults on Ukraine's power infrastructure, leading to widespread blackouts and record-high electricity imports as thermal and hydropower generation capacities have been severely impacted.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, reported that two of its thermal power plants were hit, resulting in significant equipment damage.
Regional authorities indicated that firefighters were working to extinguish fires at multiple sites affected by the strikes. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
In a related development, the US announced a relaxation of restrictions on Ukraine using American-supplied weapons inside Russian territory. This decision aims to help Ukraine defend its northeastern Kharkiv region from ongoing attacks. France and other European countries have similarly indicated that Ukraine can use their weapons against military targets within Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been urging allies to permit the use of longer-range weaponry to target locations within Russia, especially following a surge in attacks this month, particularly on Kharkiv.
Early on Friday, local officials in Kharkiv reported that a Russian attack around midnight (21:00 GMT) killed at least three people and injured 16 when a missile struck an apartment block in Ukraine's second-largest city.
Last week, authorities reported 19 fatalities following a Russian attack on a hardware superstore.
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