Power cuts in Ukraine amid missile strikes

| October 22, 2022

Critical infrastructure across Ukraine has been pounded by more than a dozen Russian missiles, the Ukrainian air force says.

Several regions have reported strikes on energy facilities and power outages.

Ukraine’s air force command reported 33 missiles had been fired at Ukraine on Saturday morning, and 18 of those 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 per cent of the entire system.

Local officials in regions across Ukraine reported strikes on energy facilities and power outages as engineers scrambled to restore the ruined network. Some advised residents to stock up on water in case of cut-offs.

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

State grid operator Ukrenergo said the attacks targeted transmission infrastructure in western Ukraine, but that power supply restrictions were being put in place in ten regions across the entire country, including in the capital, Kyiv.

“Another rocket attack from terrorists who are fighting against civilian infrastructure and people,” the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote on the Telegram app.

Ukrainian forces shot down a Russian missile over the Kyiv region, local police chief Andriy Nyebytov said, posting a photograph of a column of smoke rising from a forest where he said the missile’s debris had landed. 

Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday its forces had repelled attempted Ukrainian offensives in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk and the southern region of Kherson.

It said Russian forces had prevented an attempt by Ukraine to break through its line of defence in Kherson region by the settlements of Piatykhatky, Suhanove, Sablukivka and Bezvodne.