Russia escalates air attacks, hits Ukraine’s energy infra
Kyiv, 29: Moscow launched a large-scale attack on Ukraines energy infrastructure on Friday, with a mass barrage of 99 drones and missiles hitting regions across the country, Ukraines armed forces said. Air raid warnings rang out across the nation, with 10 Ukrainian regions coming under fire, country’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said.
Russia has escalated its attacks on Ukraine in recent days, launching several missile barrages on the capital, Kyiv, and hitting energy infrastructure across the country in apparent retaliation for recent Ukrainian aerial attacks on the Russian border region of Belgorod. Such sporadic attacks, however, have been common throughout the war.
Large-scale blackouts have already affected Ukraines eastern city of Kharkiv, where 700,000 people lost power after the citys thermal power plant was hit in a drone and missile attack on March 22.
In a statement, Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine’s Kaniv and Dniester hydroelectric power stations had come under attack and accused Moscow of risking an ecological disaster similar to the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in June 2023.
Both Kyiv and Moscow have accused the other of destroying the dam, but the various Russian allegations that it was hit by a missile or taken down by explosives fail to account for a blast so
strong that it registered on seismic monitors in the region.
The dams destruction led to deadly flooding, endangered crops, threatened drinking water supplies for thousands and unleashed an environmental catastrophe.
Zelenskyy also warned that other countries would be threatened if the dams were hit.
Not only is Ukraine under threat, but Moldova too, Zelenskyy said. The water will not stop in front of the border.