The Ukrainian capital was once again the target of a large-scale Russian attack on the night of Thursday, October 9 to Friday, October 10, which caused a power outage in the eastern sector of the city, local authorities announced.
AFP journalists in Kyiv heard numerous explosions and the drone of attack drones. The Air Force reported on Telegram of an “enemy attack with ballistic missiles and a massive attack with attack drones,” asking the population to remain in shelters.
“Massive strikes”
At the national level, “the Russians are inflicting massive attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure,” the Energy Ministry also said on Facebook.
In kyiv, “the left (eastern) bank is without electricity. There are also problems in the water network,” said the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, on Telegram, according to which “the enemy is attacking the city’s essential infrastructure.”
An AFP journalist living in eastern kyiv also noted the lack of electricity and drinking water and declared that this part of the city was plunged into total darkness.
The impact was such that, unusually, metro traffic was interrupted until further notice on the east side of the Dnieper, the municipal administration announced. The strikes also particularly affected the Zaporizhia region, in the center of the country, where a seven-year-old boy died overnight and three people were injured. In Kyiv, nine residents of a residential building were injured, according to local authorities.
Russia has been bombing Ukrainian cities daily since it began its invasion of the country in February 2022, particularly targeting energy infrastructure as winter approaches.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the increase in these attacks against energy targets by Moscow that also affect railway infrastructure, and have led to calls for the evacuation of families with children.
“Russia’s objective is to sow chaos, to exert psychological pressure on people,” he denounced.
“Extremely difficult” winter
In Slaviansk, a city in the Donbass under Ukrainian control, the mayor recently advised the most vulnerable, children and the elderly, to leave, justifying his call by the incessant attacks on heating systems.
“The risk of an extremely difficult winter season is great,” elected official Vadym Lyakh said on social media. Volodymyr Zelensky reported “strong pressure from Russian attacks” on the gas sector in Ukraine, which could force kyiv to increase imports.
Ukraine also periodically attacks Russia, especially against refineries, which has caused fuel prices to rise in this country since the summer. Volodymyr Zelensky estimated that “fuel shortages represent 20% of needs” in Russia.
Ukraine also recently attacked a power plant in the Russian border region of Belgorod, causing power outages there. A Ukrainian delegation led by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko will travel to the United States “at the beginning of the week” to discuss, in particular, the issue of energy and air defense in the face of intensifying Russian attacks, according to Volodymyr Zelensky.
Nine months after the arrival of Donald Trump to the White House, who promised to quickly end the conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin remains deaf to calls for a ceasefire.
Source: BFM TV
