Ukraine on Monday accused Russia of carrying out another large-scale attack on its energy infrastructure in recent hours, launching more than 50 cruise missiles.
“More than 50 X-101/X-555 cruise missiles were launched using Tu-95 and Tu-160 aircraft” from the northern Caspian Sea and Russia’s Rostov region, the Ukrainian Air Force said on the social network Telegram, quoted by the French agency AFP.
The Ukrainian army said it had destroyed 44 of Russia’s missiles, according to Spain’s EFE news agency.
Hundreds of cities in seven regions of Ukraine were left without electricity as a result of the bombing, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal said. The Kiev head of government said missiles and drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) had damaged 18 facilities, “mainly energy-related”.
The Russian attacks have also cut off water supplies to 80 percent of Kiev’s consumers, equivalent to 350,000 homes, the capital’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said on social network Telegram.
Ukraine’s diplomatic chief Dmytro Kuleba noted that “Russia instead of fighting civilians on military ground,” AFP reported.
However, the Russian army confirmed that it has hit Ukraine’s military targets and energy infrastructure.
“Russian forces continued to strike with high-precision, long-range air and naval weapons against Ukraine’s military command and energy systems,” the defense ministry said in a statement.
“Attack targets have been achieved. All assigned objects have been hit,” he said.
The Moldovan government said a Russian missile shot down by Ukrainian air defenses had landed in a village in northern Moldova without causing any injuries.
The country’s interior ministry said the missile landed in Naslavcea, near the Ukrainian border.
“No casualties have been reported so far, but the windows of several houses in Naslavcea have been smashed,” he said.
The Ukrainian presidency had warned of the possibility of further Russian attacks on the country’s energy facilities.
This new wave of bombing follows an early Saturday morning attack on Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol, which Russia blamed on Ukrainian troops.
After that attack, Moscow suspended the agreement on grain exports from Ukrainian ports, which it signed with the United Nations and Turkey in July.
Russia had already massively bombed Ukraine’s energy infrastructure after an October 8 attack on the Crimean Bridge that Moscow attributed to Ukrainian secret services.
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attacks on Crimea and the base of the Black Sea Fleet.
Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014.
Sevastopol is located in Crimea, but has the status of an autonomous city in the Russian Federation, being the base of the Black Sea Fleet.
Ukraine and the international community in general do not recognize the annexation of Crimea or the annexation of the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporijia and Kherson, which Russia has already carried out after the invasion of the neighboring country on February 24 this year.
The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Kyrilo Tymoshenko, also pointed to Monday’s Russian attacks, which hit several regions of the country, EFE reported.
Attacks on critical installations were reported in the Kirovohrad region (central-south) and Vinnytsia (center), while in the Lviv region (northwest) anti-aircraft fire neutralized several Russian missiles, Ukrainian media said.
Attacks were also reported in the Zaporijia region (south-east), home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, and in the Chernigiv region (south-west).
Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko said several districts of the capital were without electricity due to renewed Russian attacks.
Part of the capital was also without drinking water on Monday morning, the Ukrinfrom news agency said, citing sources in the mayor’s office.
The information released by both sides about the course of the war cannot be directly verified independently.
The new Russian attacks come at a time when Ukraine is waging a counter-offensive in the south and east of the country, after receiving weapons from its western allies.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine plunged Europe into what is considered the worst security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
The deliberate bombing of energy infrastructure in Ukraine is raising fears of worsening living conditions in the war-torn country as winter approaches.
Source: DN
