Ukraine is preparing for blackouts after a new massive attack by Russia, resulting in one dead and at least 10 injured. Moscow announces that it is gaining new victories in Ukraine and has conquered two more villages

Ukraine warned on Wednesday of possible power outages at the end of the day, following a new “massive” attack by Russia on its power grid, which left at least one dead and ten injured, AFP and Reuters report.

The national electricity company Ukrenergo warned that power outages are “possible throughout Ukraine (…) from 18:00 to 23:00”. It asked its customers to “use electricity sparingly”.

Ukrenergo stated that this was the fifth “massive” attack on the energy network since March 22.

According to DTEK, the largest private investor in the Ukrainian energy sector, three thermal plants were “severely damaged”. The company said its facilities had been bombed about 180 times since the start of the war in February 2022, including five times in the past six weeks.

By noon, power had been restored to more than 50,000 users who had been temporarily without power following Wednesday morning’s bombings, according to the Energy Ministry.

THE LARGEST ATTACK IN RECENT WEEKS

Russian missiles and drones hit at least 10 Ukrainian critical infrastructure installations in the largest airstrike in recent weeks, which caused serious damage to three thermal power plants.

Ukraine’s air force said it had shot down 39 of the 55 missiles and 20 of the 21 attack drones used in the attack, which is putting further pressure on Ukraine’s energy system under siege more than two years after Russia launched its invasion on a large scale.

Since the beginning of the year, Ukrainian electrical installations have been subjected to several waves of Russian drone and missile bombings, causing significant damage and power outages.

“The enemy is not giving up its plans to deprive Ukrainians of electricity. Another massive attack on our energy industry,” Ukrainian Energy Minister Gherman Galushchenko wrote on Telegram on Wednesday.

THE RAILWAYS, ALSO TAKEN INTO THE SIGHT

These attacks targeted electricity production and transmission targets in Poltava (east), Kirovograd (center), Zaporizhia (south), Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsia (west) regions, he added.

The city of Kherson, in the south, was also “partially deprived of electricity” due to “enemy strikes”, according to the local governor.

The railway lines were also damaged in the Kherson region, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin announced.

Moscow has also stepped up its attacks on Ukrainian railways, which are essential for Ukraine’s trade, civilian transport and military supplies, as civilian air traffic has been suspended since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.

The overnight attacks killed a 65-year-old woman in a village in the Kherson region and wounded three others, according to the local prosecutor’s office.

KIEV, TARGETED BY CRUISE MISSILES

According to the military administration of the city of Kiev, Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers fired several cruise missiles at the capital, which was placed on alert for three hours. All these missiles were shot down, it added.

Following the Russian attack in the Kiev region, 14 residential buildings were destroyed and damaged, and two people were injured, according to Ukrainskaia Pravda.

Also, one person was injured in the Dnipropetrovsk region (south), two in Brovary, near Kiev, and an 8-year-old child in the Kirovograd region (center), according to local authorities.

The governor of Lviv, Maksîm Kozîţki, said that a natural gas storage facility in his region was attacked, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.

ZELENSKI DENOUNCES “RUSSIAN TERROR” ON THE DAY OF THE CELEBRATION OF VICTORY OVER NAZISM

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced “Russian terror”. On Wednesday, May 8, “the day commemorating the victory against Nazism during the Second World War, Nazi Putin launched a massive attack against Ukraine,” he denounced.

In a separate message, the head of state announced that he had discussions with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen about ways to strengthen Ukraine’s energy system and air defense.

For his part, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denîs Shmîhal announced the creation of a governmental working group in charge of “coordinating all efforts to overcome the consequences of Russian energy terrorism”. His mission, he said, will be to prepare Ukrainian companies and households for possible power outages this fall and next winter.

RUSSIA ANNOUNCES THAT IT HAS CONQUERED TWO MORE UKRAINIAN TOWNS

The Russian military said it had carried out strikes against Ukraine’s energy grid and military industry in response to Kiev’s attacks on its own facilities. Russia used long-range, high-precision naval and air weapons, Kinjal hypersonic missile systems and drones to strike energy facilities and the military-industrial complex, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

“As a result of the attack, Ukraine’s capabilities for the production of military equipment, as well as the transfer of Western weapons and military equipment to the front line, were significantly reduced,” the ministry said, specifying that it hit Ukrainian ammunition depots and drone workshops.

The ministry emphasized that the attack was a response to “the attempts of the Kiev regime to damage Russian energy installations”.

On the front, Moscow also claimed on Wednesday that it captured the town of Novokalînove, near the town of Avdiïvka in the Donetsk region (east), which it captured in mid-February. In recent weeks, the Russian army has advanced in this area, trying to take advantage of the lack of men and weapons among the Ukrainian troops.

Also on Wednesday, Moscow also claimed to have captured the village of Kislivka in Kharkiv Oblast (northeast), which was almost entirely recaptured by Kiev during the victorious counteroffensive in autumn 2022, but which had remained the target of Russian bombing.

Along the 1,000 km front, Russian forces advanced in several places, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

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