Oct. 31 (UPI) — Russia’s campaign against Ukraine’s power infrastructure ahead of the winter season continued on Monday as Moscow showered the country with more than 50 missile attacks targeting facilities that caused widespread power outages, including the capital Kyiv.
The series of attacks, which hit facilities in Kyiv along with the central Vinnytsia region, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, and Lviv to the west, appeared to focus on civilian infrastructure.
Kyiv has continued to charge that Russia is illegally targeting its power infrastructure targets which have no military value, while Moscow has continued to deny it has been centering its war on harming Ukrainian civilians.
At least one district in Kyiv was left without power after two blasts hit the capital, including a plant that powers 350 apartments. Another attack hit facilities in the country’s second-largest city of Kharkiv. Missiles hit a facility at the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant in Zaporizhzhia.
Oleksiy Kuleba, governor of Kyiv, urged residents there to use electricity sparingly while confirming that private buildings have been damaged.
“Part of the Kyiv region remains without electricity,” Kuleba said. “Energy experts are already working on eliminating the consequences. Emergency power cuts are also introduced in the region.
“Prepare for long-term power outages. There is currently one victim, we are clarifying the information.”
Dnipropetrovsk’s regional military administration head Valentyn Reznichenko confirmed Russian facility strikes attacks on Monday.
“The Russians targeted energy infrastructure facilities in Dnipro and Pavlohrad,” he said. “Serious destruction is recorded. All services are working on site.”
Lviv, which has seen little fighting compared to other parts of the country since Russia’s invasion in February, saw its governor issue a rolling electrical cuts program because of the attack. Lviv had been a hub for Ukrainians fleeing the country since the start of the war.
“Starting today, an hourly electricity blackout schedule will be introduced in Lviv oblast and throughout Ukraine,” Gov. Maksym Kozytskyi said. “Lvivblenergo specialists divided consumers of the region into 3 groups.
“Also, due to the attacks on critical infrastructure objects, which the terrorist state resorted to today, emergency power cuts are being introduced in Ukraine.”
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Firefighters conduct work while smoke rises from a building after it was attacked by Russian drones in Kyiv, Ukraine, on October 17, 2022. Photo by Vladyslav Musiienko/UPI | License Photo