KIEV (Al Jazeera) – Hundreds of thousands of people in central and western Ukraine are without power after Russia carried out massive drone and missile attacks, as intense fighting continues in the southeastern region of Luhansk, Donetsk and Kherson where Russia has been struggling to stop renewed Ukrainian advances.
Ukraine’s air force said in a statement on Saturday that Russia had launched “a massive missile attack” targeting “critical infrastructure”, hours after air raid sirens blared across the country. It said that it had downed 18 out of 33 cruise missiles launched from air and sea.
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 cuts.
Russia has intensified its attacks on power stations, water supply systems and other key infrastructure across the country since October 10, destroying one-third of Ukraine’s power stations in apparent retaliation to an attack on the Crimea bridge – a key military supply route – and recent advances made by Ukrainian forces.
After the first wave of missiles hit early in the morning, air raid sirens rang out again nationwide at 11.15am local time (08:15 GMT).
State grid operator Ukrenergo said the attacks targeted transmission infrastructure in western Ukraine, but that power supply restrictions were being put in place in 10 regions across the country, including in the capital, Kiev.
“The scale of damage is comparable or may exceed the consequences of the attacks [between] October 10-12,” Ukrenergo wrote on the Telegram app, referring to the first wave of strikes on Ukraine’s power system last week.
“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.
Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that its forces had repelled attempted Ukrainian offensives in the southern 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 the Kherson region by the settlements of Piatykhatky, Sukhanove, Sablukivka and Bezvodne.
Ukrainian authorities say they have taken some 88 towns in the region.
Kherson is one of four Ukrainian territories annexed by Moscow last month.
Russia and Ukraine have also accused each other of planning to blow up a huge dam in the Kherson region. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has alleged that Russian forces are planting explosives in the Nova Kakhovka dam.