Overnight, Moscow launched 120 missiles and 90 drones against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. At least seven people were killed, 10 were injured and three regions were left without power.
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During the early hours of Sunday, Moscow launched an attack, described as “massive” by Volodymyr Zelensky, against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. As a result, at least seven people were killed, 10 were injured, and three regions of the country invaded by Russia were left without electricity. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the attack.
“A massive combined attack targeted all regions of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian president began by writing. in a post on X, adding that in total Russia launched “120 missiles and 90 drones,” including Shaheds, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and ballistic missiles. “The enemy’s target was our energy infrastructure in Ukraine,” he said.
A massive combined attack targeted all regions of Ukraine. Overnight and this morning, Russian terrorists used several types of drones, including Shaheds, as well as cruise, ballistic and aeroballistic missiles: Zircons, Iskanders and Kinzhals. In total, approximately 120…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 17, 2024
“In Mykolaiv, a drone attack killed two people and injured six others, including two children,” said the Ukrainian president. In the Dnieper region, an attack on a railway terminal left two dead and three injured, in the Lviv region a 66-year-old woman died when fragments of a Russian missile fell on her car, and in the south of the Odessa region two people died and a 17-year-old boy was injured.
In the kyiv, Donetsk and Dnipro regions, people were left without electricity, and Ukraine’s largest private energy company confirmed that Russian attacks “severely” damaged several thermal power plants. “Russia fired on DTEK thermal power plants. The attacks severely damaged the plants. Once the attacks ended, the company’s employees immediately began repairing the damage and restoring the equipment,” it reads.
It was this infrastructure that was affected and, as a result, the Ukrainian regions of kyiv, Donetsk and Dnipro were left without electricity, Ukraine’s largest private energy company said. in a message shared on XDTEK confirmed that Russian attacks “severely” damaged several of the thermal power plants. “Russia fired on DTEK thermal power plants. The attacks severely damaged the plants. Once the attacks ended, the company’s employees immediately began repairing the damage and restoring the equipment,” it reads.
On the same platform, the Minister of Energy stated that “a massive attack on our energy system is underway” and that Russian forces were “attacking electricity production and transmission facilities throughout Ukraine.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that it was an attack on “peaceful cities” and criticized the politicians who spoke with Vladimir Putin. in a message to Olaf Scholz who spoke by phone with the Russian president on Friday.
Russia launched one of the largest airstrikes – drones and missiles against peaceful cities, sleeping civilians and critical infrastructure. This is war criminal Putin’s true response to all those who called and visited him recently. We need peace through force, not appeasement.
—Andrii Sybiha ???????? (@andrii_sybiha) November 17, 2024
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that most nuclear reactors under the control of Ukrainian authorities have reduced their production following the massive attack by Russia. According to a statement from the general director of the international organization, Rafael Mariano Grossi, only two of the nine reactors are producing electricity at full capacity, another six have seen their capacity reduced between 40% and 90% and the ninth is closed for maintenance.
“Nuclear power plants need reliable connections to the grid, both to supply the electricity they produce and to receive external energy to cool the reactors. The increasing fragility of the network has been one of the main challenges to nuclear security throughout the armed conflict,” laments the agency.
Grossi also left an appeal: “at this critical moment, I reiterate the importance of respecting the seven indispensable pillars of nuclear security during conflict, in particular the fourth pillar, which establishes that there must be a secure supply of energy from the grid to all nuclear facilities.
The combined drone and missile attack was the most powerful in the last three months, according to the head of the kyiv Military Administration, Serhii Popko.
Source: Observadora
