Russia attacked energy facilities in Ukraine, national grid operator says
KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine shot down 17 out of 23 Russia-launched drones during an overnight attack which damaged infrastructure in several regions, the country’s air force and local authorities said on Wednesday.
The Russian forces also launched two Kh-59/69 guided missiles to attack Ukraine, the air force said.
Ukraine’s national grid operator Ukrenergo said that Russian drones had hit an energy facility overnight and caused temporary power cuts to consumers in parts of Chernihiv region.
In the morning, Russian forces also attacked an energy facility in the southern region, Ukrenergo said, without offering details.
Russia renewed a campaign of aerial attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities this spring. Kyiv says the attacks have knocked out half of its power-generating capacity, forcing it to introduce rolling blackouts.
Russia says energy infrastructure is a legitimate military target and denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure.
The overnight attack also damaged infrastructure in the northern region of Zhytomyr with no casualties reported, according to local authorities.
The air force shot down one drone in the southern region of Mykolaiv, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said. The debris damaged two private residences with no casualties reported, he added.
Governors of the central Kyiv, Cherkasy and Kirovohrad regions reported no infrastructure damage or casualties following the attack.
Kyiv governor Ruslan Kravchenko said the debris caused a forest fire which has since been put out.
(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko; Editing by Tom Hogue, Elaine Hardcastle and Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
