Air attack by Russia on energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine, Kiev reports

A Russian air attack on Ukraine damaged several installations, in an attack that targeted the energy infrastructure throughout the country, Ukrainian military and energy officials said on Wednesday, reports Reuters, quoted by News.ro.

“Another massive attack on our energy industry!” Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Electricity generation and transmission facilities in Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporozhye, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsia regions were targeted, he added.

With the exception of the Zaporozhye region, all other regions are far from the front line that runs through eastern and southeastern Ukraine.

The extent of the Russian attack on Ukraine was not immediately known. There was no immediate comment from Moscow.

The operator of the Ukrainian national grid Ukrenergo sent on Telegram that the equipment at one of its facilities in central Ukraine was damaged, without providing more details.

In the central Poltava region, an energy infrastructure facility was hit by a drone attack, starting a fire, Poltava region governor Filip Pronin wrote on Telegram.

According to preliminary information, no victims were registered.

The governors of Vinnitsa and Zaporizhia regions separately stated that critical civil infrastructure facilities were damaged, without providing further details.

All missiles aimed at Kiev were destroyed, Serhiy Popko, the head of the city’s military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app. He added that there were no major damages or injuries as a result of the attack.

Reuters witnesses in Kiev reported hearing explosions, which appeared to be anti-aircraft defense systems hitting aerial objects.

Air defense systems were also engaged in repelling the Russian attack over the Lviv region, which borders NATO member Poland, where several explosions occurred, regional officials said.

Russia, which began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has launched a series of attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities in recent months. Moscow denies targeting civilians, but says the Ukrainian energy system is a legitimate military target.