Russia launches largest attack on Ukraine energy infrastructure since spring

ByAlys Davies and Paul Adams, Diplomatic correspondent, Reporting fromKyiv.

Key points

• Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow at present controls regarding 20% of Ukrainian territory.
• Russia has introduced the largest attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure since the spring, primarily targeting Kyiv and the surrounding region, Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi has stated.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remarked there were strikes on critical infrastructure in the Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad and Rivne regions.
• On Wednesday, some households in the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Sumy, Kyiv and Kharkiv regions remained without power, Ukraine's energy ministry remarked.
• Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klischko remarked three residents were killed in total in the capital, including a Ukrainian utility firm worker who was killed at a warehouse building.

At least six individuals were killed and 33 others injured nationwide in the overnight attacks, including a child in the Kyiv region, local authorities noted.

In practice, the strikes additionally impacted people's power supplies, with Ukraine's biggest private energy firm, DTEK, saying power to 8, 000 homes had been restored after "a difficult night" for the capital.

For context, the Russian defence ministry remarked one of its targets was the Trypilska power station, the largest supplier of electricity to Kyiv. This has not been confirmed by Ukrainian authorities.

In an official note on Telegram, Koretskyi remarked: Since the summer, there has effectively not been a single day without enemy attacks on our energy infrastructure.

"However, a mass and combined attack of this scale has occurred for the first time since the end of the last heating season."

Ukraine has been expecting another protracted Russian assault on the country's energy grid. It has happened every winter so far since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

In total 11 regions of the country were attacked overnight, with residential buildings, social infrastructure, civilian enterprises and railways additionally targeted, Koretskyi stated.

State-owned grid operator Ukrenegro advised residents not to employ powerful electrical appliances between the hours of 10: 00 and 16: 00 local time as electricity supplies were lower than usual.

In Kyiv, individuals woke to find the city blanketed by thick, acrid smoke after a night punctuated by the sound of explosions. An air raid alert was still on and the distant sound of air defence gunfire echoed through the murky atmosphere.

Residents in a number of districts were advised to close their windows until the smoke cleared.

Among those killed in the overnight strikes was a child whose body was discovered under the rubble of a house, Kyiv regional governor Timur Tkachenko stated.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klischko remarked three residents were killed in total in the capital, including a Ukrainian utility firm worker who was killed at a warehouse building. It is not clear if the three he mentioned included the child.

While another person was killed in the Mykolaiv region, acting regional governor Heorhiy Reshetilov remarked, two individuals were additionally killed in the north-eastern Sumy region, governor Oleh Hryhorov noted.

Taken together, the developments around russia launches largest attack on Ukraine energy infrastructure since spring point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.