Power cuts in Ukraine after Russian missiles pound infra facilities

KYIV: Critical infrastructure across Ukraine was pounded by more than a dozen Russian missiles on Saturday, the Ukrainian air force said, with several regions reporting strikes on energy facilities and power outages.

At the same time Russian occupation authorities in the Ukrainian city of Kherson urged civilians to leave immediately citing what they called a tense military situation as Ukraine’s forces advance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on the Telegram app regarding Russian attacks on infrastructure that began overnight: “The enemy launched a massive attack: 36 rockets, most of which were shot down.”

The air force command earlier had said 33 missiles had been fired at Ukraine on Saturday morning, adding that 18 of them had been shot down.

Since October 10, Russia has launched a series of devastating salvos at Ukraine’s power infrastructure, which have hit at least half of its thermal power generation and up to 40% of the entire system.

Presidential adviser Kyrylo Tymoshenko said that as of Saturday afternoon, more than a million people across Ukraine were without power, including some 672,000 in the western region of Khmelnytskyi.

After a first wave of missiles early in the morning, air raid sirens rang out again nationwide at 11.15am local time.

Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said Moscow wanted to create a new wave of refugees into Europe with the strikes, while foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said they constituted genocide.