Russian forces carried out an overnight attack on a thermal power plant in the Kyiv region, Ukraine’s energy ministry said on Monday, causing localised blackouts and gas outages.
The strikes followed a day after Moscow’s largest air attack of its three-and-a-half-year war on Ukraine.
“The goal is obvious: to cause even more hardship to the peaceful population of Ukraine, to leave Ukrainian homes, hospitals, kindergartens and schools without light and heat,” the ministry wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
It added that rescuers and technicians were working on the site on Monday.
Russia’s defence ministry confirmed that it had hit Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Regular Strikes
Moscow has regularly bombarded Ukraine’s energy facilities since it launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, causing massive blackouts in previous years.
Ukraine’s electricity grid operator Ukrenergo said on Monday that Russia had attacked power infrastructure in several regions of Ukraine, which had caused localised blackouts.
“Emergency repair work is ongoing, and most consumers had their power restored by Monday morning,” it said.
Mykola Kalashnyk, the governor of Kyiv region, said the attack had damaged the local gas grid and that over 8,000 properties in eight settlements would be disconnected from their gas supply over the next two days as repairs were carried out.
“For several weeks now, the enemy has been striking energy system facilities in various regions,” Serhiy Kovalenko, CEO of energy company Yasno, wrote on X.
“Of course, no one knows what will happen this autumn, but given the recent strikes, there is no particular cause for optimism,” he added in a subsequent post.
Largest Air Attack On Kyiv
Russia launched its largest overnight air assault of the war, igniting a fire at Ukraine’s main government building in Kyiv and killing three people, including an infant whose body was recovered from the rubble, officials said on Sunday.
“For the first time, the government building was damaged by an enemy strike — its roof and upper floors,” Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on the Telegram messaging app.
“Rescuers are extinguishing the fire.”
Ukraine’s Air Force said on Telegram that Russia launched 805 drones into Ukraine overnight and 13 missiles, with Ukrainian defence units downing 751 drones and four missiles.
That was the highest number of drones Russia has used to attack the country since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
(With inputs from Reuters)
