Power cuts across Ukraine following Russian bombing
A woman gathers pieces of wood next to a crater left by a Russian rocket strike in Kivsharivka, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022.
photo: AP/Francisco Seco
kurdsatnews
Russia's frequent bombardment has left Ukrainian cities without electricity and running water.
On Saturday, Ukraine's state electric company announced regular and scheduled blackouts in Kyiv and seven other regions in the wake of Russian strikes on energy infrastructure.
This step comes at a time when Russian forces continue to bombard Ukrainian cities and towns with missiles and drones, causing damage to power stations, water supplies, and other civilian targets, as the Ukrainian war enters its nine months. Russian attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure followed an attack on Russia's symbol of power in Ukraine, the Crimean Bridge, which Russia accused Kyiv of orchestrating it.
The statement said that power outages for "certain categories of consumers" will occur daily "according to a specific schedule set by the distribution network operators for each region." The outages are expected to last six hours or more each day.
Ukraine has been suffering from blackouts and disrupted water supplies since Russia launched a barrage of missiles and drones on its energy infrastructure last month after it faced ostensible setbacks in Southern and Eastern Ukraine.
The governor of Dnipropetrovsk, Valentin Reznichenko, said on Telegram that about 40 shells were fired during the night on Nikopol. Russian forces targeted the town and its surroundings with heavy artillery. The official said that the raid led to the outbreak of two fires and damaged more than 12 residential buildings and facilities and a gas pipeline.
Russian forces also fired missiles at the Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast, which Moscow annexed. The regional governor, Oleksandr Staruch, stated that the Russian troops launched an attack shortly after midnight that damaged the buildings of three companies and many cars.
According to the Ukrainian presidency, at least three civilians were killed, and eight others were injured during the past 24 hours in the Russian bombing of nine Ukrainian regions, where drones, missiles, and heavy artillery were deployed.
With confrontation between Ukrainians and Russian armies diminished and fighting mostly done through attacks on critical infrastructure, the Ukraine War has taken a different turn, as many believed that an escalation would involve Russia using WMDs, including nuclear weapons.
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