Ukraine imposed emergency power cuts in several regions on Friday after new massive Russian strikes “severely” damaged three thermal power plants, with kyiv calling on the West for help. A separate drone attack also caused the death of a civilian and injured a man in the town of Myrivska, announced the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region (central-south), Serguiï Lyssak.
On the Russian side, a civilian was killed and two others injured by a Ukrainian drone which crashed into an apartment building in Belgorod, a town close to Ukraine, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. The Ukrainian air forces, for their part, assured that they had destroyed the vast majority of the 99 Russian missiles and drones – a particularly high number – launched during this new wave of night bombings. Moscow has intensified its airstrikes against Ukraine in recent weeks, targeting the energy network in particular and saying it is acting in retaliation for kyiv’s attacks in its border regions.
In its daily report, the Russian army confirmed that it had targeted energy infrastructure during the night but also Ukrainian “anti-aircraft defenses” with missiles, particularly hypersonic ones, and drones. In total, ten regions were targeted across Ukraine and six people, including a child, were injured in these strikes, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said.
Three Ukrainian thermal power plants affected
Three Ukrainian thermal power plants suffered significant damage after Russian fire, said Ukrainian energy supplier DTEK, without giving the location of these installations. “The occupiers attacked three DTEK thermal power plants. The equipment was seriously damaged,” lamented the company in a press release, specifying that its engineers had “rapidly” reacted to deal with the damage.
The national operator Ukrenergo said it was “forced to urgently carry out (power) cuts until the evening” in three regions due to the “lack of production capacity” of electricity following of the Russian “massive attack”. “Restrictions” were already in place in two other regions after previous bombings. “Ukraine needs more air defense systems,” argued Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal, denouncing “barbaric attacks against the Ukrainian energy system.”
Energy Minister German Galushchenko previously announced that a “massive attack” had particularly targeted energy production sites in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava (center) and Cherkassy (center). The governor of Dnipropetrovk, for his part, reported that “several energy installations” had been damaged there. kyiv is calling on its Western allies to send it more aid, and faster. But, in Brussels as in Washington, political divisions have hampered the delivery of arms and the sending of funds in recent months.
Ukrainian officials insist in particular on the supply of additional Patriot batteries. This powerful and expensive anti-aircraft defense system was delivered to Ukraine for the first time in spring 2023. President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on Friday of the need to “replenish stocks more quickly” of Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense and said “count on the rapid reaction” of his country’s Western allies.
The Ukrainian Air Force said on Friday it had destroyed “84 aerial targets”
The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army Oleksandr Syrsky, in an interview broadcast on Friday, for his part noted that the advantage of the Russian army in terms of ammunition fired on both sides was “six to one “, a few days ago. According to him, with better anti-aircraft defense and more ammunition, Ukraine “without a doubt” could have kept some of the positions it recently lost. Oleksandr Syrsky further affirmed that Russia had “significantly increased the activity of its aviation”, notably using guided aerial bombs “which destroy our positions”.
The Ukrainian air forces said on Friday they had destroyed “84 aerial targets”, or 26 missiles and 58 Shahed drones of Iranian manufacture, out of the 99 devices of this type according to them launched by the Russians. The Russian army sends missiles or drones into its neighbor’s territory almost every night, but their number is generally lower. The Polish army, for its part, reported increased surveillance of Poland’s airspace, a few days after a Russian missile fired towards towns in western Ukraine flew over its territory for 39 seconds. territory.