Ukraine Warupdated 2h ago2 min read
Russian Forces Launch Massive Attack, Leaving 600,000 Without Power in Ukraine
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600,000 Ukrainians without power after Russian strikes on energy infrastructure. Attacks focused on Kyiv and Kharkiv, damaging energy facilities and causing casualties.
Kyiv hit, power cut
Russian forces launched a “massive” attack on Ukraine that struck energy infrastructure and left at least 600,000 people without power early Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Zelenskyy said the attack involved a “targeted Russian ballistic missile strike specifically against energy infrastructure” and he warned that outages could become more widespread as damage reached “at least 26 power facilities and four others in the gas and oil sector.” Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it carried out a “massive strike by ground-launched high-precision weapons and long-range drones” against communication and energy infrastructure facilities in Kyiv and Kharkiv.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko described the overnight strike on Kyiv as “massive,” and he said at least one person had been killed in the capital. Katarina Mathernova, the European Union’s ambassador to Ukraine, said “more than a dozen explosions were heard before dawn in the Kyiv” and she described a nine-storey apartment building being hit with fire spreading through homes.
Ceasefire dispute and warnings
Zelenskyy said Ukraine received “no early warning from our partners” when Russian ballistic missiles hit Kyiv, and he called the strike “absolutely unjust” because “Ukraine is not even receiving early warnings about ballistic missile launches.” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two people had been killed and 21 injured in the missile strike on an apartment block late on Tuesday, while Zelenskyy said the attack came with “no early warning from our partners.”
Zelenskyy said Ukraine “received no advance warning from our partners” when Russia launched a ballistic missile barrage at Kyiv and other locations early Tuesday, and sources told CBS News the U.S. may have intentionally withheld early warnings this week. Zelenskyy told Ukrainians that “Once again, no advance warning from our partners,” and he wrote that the main target was “energy infrastructure, specifically thermal plant No 4.”
Air defense, Starlink, and stakes
Russian strikes damaged 30 energy facilities and killed three people in Kyiv overnight, and Zelenskiy said at least 600,000 people were left without power. Ukraine reported downing just four out of 39 missiles, and it described fears of widespread power and heating outages across the country as Russia stepped up attacks ahead of winter. Ukrainian officials and soldiers told CBS News Ukraine’s military experienced difficulties with Starlink after “On the night of 14 October” SpaceX “unilaterally restricted the operation of Starshield terminals ('military package') while in motion.”
A technology adviser to Zelenskyy’s office warned that the operation of some Starlink internet terminals appeared to have been restricted overnight, and Sergiy Beskrestnov said “Our defence forces were not warned about this restriction.” OCHA said aid workers and rescuers were on the ground in Kyiv and Kharkiv after aerial strikes killed residents and injured dozens, and it reported that across Kyiv “one civilian was reported killed and 11 injured.”