By Yuliia Dysa
KYIV (Reuters) -Large parts of Kyiv were plunged into darkness in the early hours of Friday after Russian drones and missiles struck Ukrainian energy facilities, cutting power and water to homes and halting a key metro link across the Dnipro river.
In the latest mass attack targeting the energy system as winter approaches, electricity was interrupted in nine regions and over a million households and businesses were temporarily without power across the country.
In southeastern Ukraine, a seven-year-old was killed when his home was hit and at least 20 people were injured. In Kyiv, an apartment block in the city centre was damaged by a projectile, while on the left bank of the Dnipro that divides the capital, crowds waited at bus stops with the metro out of action and people filled water bottles at distribution points.
“We didn’t sleep at all,” said Liuba, a pensioner, as she collected water. “From 2:30 a.m. there was so much noise. By 3:30 we had no electricity, no gas, no water. Nothing.”
According to Ukraine’s energy ministry, over 800,000 customers temporarily lost power in Kyiv.
CALLS FOR AIR DEFENCES, SANCTIONS ENFORCEMENT
Ukrainians are bracing for a tough winter, as the full-scale war nears its fourth anniversary. Russia has intensified attacks on the energy system in recent weeks, striking power plants and gas production facilities, and local authorities are struggling with the scale of repairs required.
“They can’t demonstrate anything real on the battlefield… so they will attack our energy sector,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told reporters in Kyiv.
Calling for more support from allies, he said that Ukraine’s 203 main energy facilities needed air-defence protection.
Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk met G7 ambassadors and representatives from some of Ukraine’s biggest energy companies to discuss how allies could help protect the country against further attacks and repair the damage.
“The blow is strong, but it is definitely not fatal,” Zelenskiy said.
Speaking later in his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said Putin had deliberately launched the overnight attacks when world attention was focused on the “valuable opportunity” to move towards Middle East peace after the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
“This marks a new record of Russian depravity, to intensify terrorist strikes and target civilian lives at such a moment,” he said.
Ukraine’s air force said it had downed 405 of 465 drones and 15 of 32 missiles in this attack. Ukraine’s stretched air defences are no match for regular barrages on such a scale.
According to Zelenskiy, Russia deliberately waited for bad weather to attack, and the inclement conditions reduced the efficiency of Ukraine’s air defences by between 20% and 30%.
Russia said its overnight strikes were in response to Ukraine’s attacks on Russian civilian facilities.
Ukraine regularly launches drone strikes against Russia’s military and oil installations, although they are generally on a far smaller scale. Kyiv says it wants to force Moscow, which started the war, to negotiate a peace deal in good faith.
COMMUTERS STRANDED AMID TRANSPORT DISRUPTIONS
For many Kyiv residents, the day started with power cuts, disruptions in the water supply and transport delays.
Over 250,000 consumers in the capital were still disconnected from the grid late on Friday, according to authorities.
“We had no power or water when I left my house. I can’t get to work because the subway is not operating and buses are overflowing,” Anatoliy, a 23-year-old student, told Reuters.
“I’m hoping for the best but I don’t even know how to reach the other bank (of the Dnipro),” he said, after spending the night in his hallway because of loud explosions.
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said the assault was among the heaviest concentrated strikes on energy infrastructure and reported significant damage.
Her deputy, Oleksiy Kuleba, said two million customers in Kyiv temporarily faced problems with water supplies.
Ukrainian private energy firm DTEK said its thermal power plants had suffered significant damage but did not immediately provide further details.
Hrynchuk said it was three years to the day since Russia launched its first large-scale attack on Ukraine’s power grid.
“Today, Russia continues to use cold and darkness as instruments of terror,” she said on Facebook.
(Reporting by Vladyslav Smilianets, Anastasiia Malenko, Yuliia Dysa, Gleb Garanich and Ron Popeski; Writing by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Kim Coghill, Michael Perry, Timothy Heritage, Aidan Lewis, Sharon Singleton and Deepa Babington)
