KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A massive barrage of Russian strikes hit critical infrastructure in Kyiv, Kharkiv and other Ukrainian cities on Monday morning, knocking out water and power supplies in apparent retaliation for what Moscow alleged was a Ukrainian attack on its Black Sea Fleet over the weekend.
Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s power plants and other key infrastructure as the war enters its ninth month. Large parts of Ukraine are already experiencing rolling power cuts as a result of Russia’s strategy.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces carried out “strikes with long-range high-precision air and sea-based weapons against the military command and energy systems of Ukraine.”
“The goals of the strikes were achieved. All designated targets were hit,” the ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 44 of more than 50 cruise missiles that were launched by Russia.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Russian missiles and drones hit 10 Ukrainian regions and damaged 18 objects, mostly energy facilities.
Hundreds of localities in seven Ukrainian regions were left without power, he said in a Facebook post, adding that “the consequences could have been much worse” if the Ukrainian forces hadn’t shot down most of the Russian missiles.
Thirteen people were wounded as a result of morning attacks, the head of National Police Ihor Klymenko said on national television.
Loud explosions were heard across the Ukrainian capital in the early morning as residents prepared to go to work. The emergency services sent out text message warnings about the threat of a missile attack, and air raid sirens wailed for three hours during the morning commute time.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 80% of consumers in the city of 3 million people were left without water supplies because of the damage to a power facility.
Local authorities were working on restoring the supplies as soon as possible, Klitschko said, telling Kyiv residents in the meantime to “stock up on water from the nearest pump rooms and points of sale.”
The attacks occurred just before Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and many top members of his government, including the foreign, defense and interior ministers, arrived in Kyiv in the latest show of support from European leaders for Ukraine.
Prime Minister Shmyhal said that in the Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions, emergency power shutdowns were underway.