Attack of 127 missiles and 109 drones is ‘one of the biggest’ of the war, Zelenskiy says, causing power and water outages
A huge missile and drone attack launched by Russia across Ukrainian territory has left at least seven people dead, including four children, officials have said.
Power cuts and water outages were reported in numerous parts of the country including in some districts of the capital, Kyiv, as a result of the strikes, which targeted mainly civilian energy infrastructure.
In a video address on Telegram, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, described the attack early on Monday as “one of the biggest combined strikes” on Ukraine over the course of the war.
“And like most previous Russian strikes, this one is just as base, targeting critical civilian infrastructure,” he said.
The commander of the Ukrainian air force, Mykola Oleshchuk, said Russia launched 127 missiles, of which 102 were intercepted. He added that Russian forces had also launched 109 drones.
In central Kyiv, air defences were audible during morning rush-hour, forcing many people to take shelter in underground metro stations. In the western city of Lutsk, a block of flats was damaged and there were reports of fatalities in five regions.
The prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said 15 regions had sustained damage during the strikes, and Zelenskiy said the energy sector had suffered “a lot of damage”.
A senior Ukrainian official said Russia had also targeted a hydropower plant in the Kyiv region. “Today’s Russian attack … targeted Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, including Kyiv HPP,” the Ukrainian first deputy foreign minister, Andriy Sybiha, said on X.
Russia’s defence ministry in a statement said it had launched a “massive precision-guided weapons strike on critical energy infrastructure facilities”.
Moscow has been targeting this infrastructure for months, leading to blackouts, rationing and a fear of power shortages over the coming winter.
The attack came two days after Ukraine celebrated its Independence Day. The US embassy in the country had warned of an elevated risk of a Russian attack around the date.