Russia des•roys larges• power plan• in tkraine’s Kyiv region
A sweeping Russian missile attack on Ukraine destroyed the largest power generating plant in the Kyiv region as Vladimir Putin’s forces exploit gaps in the war-battered nation’s air defense as part of a renewed offensive.
The strike set ablaze the turbine hall of the coal-fired Trypilska plant some 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of the capital, according to Andriy
Hota, the supervisory board chairman of stateowned power producer Centrenergo. The facility was hit by six missiles early Thursday, a person familiar with the strike said on condition of anonymity.
“We need to speak about air defense — it’s the biggest challenge today,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said during a visit to Lithuania on Thursday, listing regions hit in the barrage. Centrenergo’s Hota said the company’s power generation “has been ruined” after attacks on its facilities.
As Ukrainian forces suffer from mounting shortages of ammunition and manpower, the Kremlin has intensified strikes on energy infrastructure. All of it highlights a Ukrainian military stretched as the war heads into its third year with no end in sight.
In the sign of growing urgency, the Ukrainian parliament approved a contested mobilization law Thursday aimed at replenishing its military ranks. The legislation, which tightens registration rules, narrows exemptions from military service and introduces some penalties for evaders, was approved by 283 votes in the 450-assembly, according to several lawmakers.
The parliament expedited the measures even as conscription becomes an ever-more sensitive issue among citizens exhausted by the conflict. But military leaders say more stringent conscription rules are necessary to keep up with the Russian onslaught.
“No matter how much help we get, how many weapons we have — we lack people,” the commander of Ukraine’s ground troops, Oleksandr Pavliuk, said in a Facebook post on Monday.
After capturing the eastern city of Avdiivka earlier this year, Russian troops have unleashed their firepower all along the frontline and made marginal advances. Kremlin troops are seeking to capture strategically key spots, such as the town of Chasiv Yar, west of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Meanwhile, a $60 billion U.S. aid package continues to be blocked by Republicans in Congress, with House Speaker Mike Johnson yet to call a vote as he seeks to prevent a rebellion from hard-liners in his ranks.