At least four people have died after Russia launched a major offensive in Ukraine, destroying electricity and water supplies.
Explosions erupted in several cities including Kyiv on Monday morning, as more than half of the country’s regions came under attack.
Authorities in Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk, Zhytomyr again Dnipropetrovsk regions each reported casualties during heavy airstrikes, including missiles and drones.
Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed that it had targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure – one of its long-term strategies – and said all its targets had been hit.
Violent drone and missile attacks began across the country on Monday night and continued into the early hours of the morning, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram.
Explosions were heard in many cities from Lutsk in the west to Dnipro in the east as people were urged to stay in shelters and the entire country was placed under an air raid alert.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that Russia fired more than 100 missiles and about 100 drones.
“This was one of the biggest strikes,” he said, adding that there was a lot of damage to power plants, he added.
Mr Zelensky also called on Western allies including Britain, America and France to change their rules and allow Ukraine to use its weapons to attack deep into Russia. Ukraine allowed to use some Western weapons to hit targets inside Russia – but not long-range weapons.
And he said “we can do more to protect lives” if European air forces are working with air defense in Ukraine.
Another 15 regions of Ukraine were targeted by Russia, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said, using weapons including drones, cruise missiles and large-scale missiles.
“There are injured and dead,” Mr Shmyhal said on the Telegram social network.
The dead include:
- A 69-year-old man was killed in Dnipropetrovsk region, said local governor Sergiy Lysak, adding that many houses were damaged.
- A man died when his house was hit in Zaporizhzhia, the governor said
- The mayor of Lutsk said one person was killed when “infrastructure” was hit. Five others were injured and many parts of the city were without water, he added
- And in the Zhytomyr region of western Ukraine, a woman died after houses and infrastructure buildings were hit by missiles, the governor said.
In the central region of Poltava, five people were injured when an “industrial center” was attacked, the governor said – as he urged people to stay in shelters until bedtime.
Seven people were also injured in the strike in the Odesa region, including two children, local authorities reported.
The attack caused significant damage to other infrastructure, with power outages reported in many cities – including Kyiv – and water supplies disrupted.
Electricity has been cut off in emergency situations, warned the energy company DTEK, adding that its engineers are working to restore electricity throughout the country.
In Telegram, Russia said it used sophisticated long-range and naval weapons and drones in what it called a “major attack”.
Russia has been targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since the start of its full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.
In recent months it has renewed its campaign to attack the power grid, causing frequent blackouts across the country.
In June, President Zelensky said Russia has destroyed half of its country’s electricity generation capacity since it began shutting down in late March.
Ukraine buys energy from the European Union – however, this is not enough so most days the country has a nationwide blackout to protect essential needs such as hospitals and military bases.
Russian forces have been making slow but steady advances in the east in recent months.
Meanwhile, Ukraine launched its latest surprise attack on Russia’s Kursk, seen as an attempt to draw troops away from the eastern front. Experts say the efforts have failed, as Moscow’s forces continue to take part in Ukraine.
On Monday, Ukraine attempted to attack an oil refinery in Yaroslavl, a city northeast of Moscow, according to the regional governor. No injuries or damage were reported.
And Russia’s Defense Ministry said it destroyed nine drones in its Saratov area, which is 900 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, urged Ukraine’s allies to give permission to launch a long-range attack on Russia with Western-supplied weapons, in a message on Telegram.
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