Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Russian forces attacked Ukraine’s energy and power infrastructure with hundreds of drones and missiles, including Iranian-made weapons.
Russia is very fond of Iran’s Shahed series of propeller-driven suicide drones. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry claims Russia has launched over 8,000 Shahed drones over the past two and a half years.
“The enemy’s target was our energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine. Unfortunately, there is damage to objects from hits and falling debris. In Mykolaiv, as a result of a drone attack, two people were killed and six others were injured, including two children,” Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president said his forces were able to intercept 144 of the Russian-launched drones and missiles before they hit their targets, but the attack was so massive that many of the projectiles got through.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing explosions in Odesa, Zapoizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro, and the capital city of Kyiv. The major port city of Odesa was reportedly left without power after the attack, forcing hospitals to run on emergency generators. Several other regions reported blackouts.
“The situation is most difficult in Odesa and Odesa district. Unfortunately, it is not yet technically possible to supply power to the critical infrastructure in the Kyivskyi and Primorskyi districts of the city,” Ukraine’s power distributor DTEK said on Monday.
DTEK said power was restored to about 400,000 homes as of Monday morning, while 321,000 customers were still without power. The regional governor of Odesa, Oleh Kiper, said work was proceeding on restoring water and heat to the region, but, meanwhile, 445 shelters had been established for residents.
Ukrainian officials warned rolling blackouts would affect most regions of the country on Monday, lasting up to eight hours in some regions.
Kiper said the Russian attack killed at least eight civilians and injured 18 more.
The Russian assault was large enough to prompt neighboring Poland to scramble fighter jets, supported by NATO aircraft. Poland’s air defense network went on high alert throughout the assault on western Ukraine. As of Monday afternoon, there were no reports of Russian missiles or drones hitting Polish territory.
Military analysts suspect Russia is planning to knock out power across Ukraine as winter temperatures plunge, inflicting widespread misery upon the Ukrainian population.
“Russian terrorists are once again trying to intimidate us with cold and blackouts, repeating their actions and trying to get results from them,” Zelensky said on Sunday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that none of Ukraine’s nine operational nuclear power plants were damaged in the attack, but several electrical substations connected to those power plants were hit.
