KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine imposed emergency power cuts across most of the country on Sunday, a day after Russia unleashed widespread attacks on energy infrastructure and claimed it had made gains in the eastern province of Donetsk.
The shutdowns took place in all but three regions of Ukraine following Saturday’s drone and missile attack on energy targets that were injured minimum 19 people.
Ukrainian power grid operator Ukrenergo said the closures affected both industrial and domestic consumers.
Sustained Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grid in recent weeks have forced the government to impose nationwide blackouts. However, without adequate air defenses to counter attacks and allow for repairs, shortages could worsen as needs increase in late summer and the bitterly cold winter.
The most significant recent strikes have included an April barrage which damaged Kiev’s largest thermal power plant and a massive attack on May 8 which targeted electricity generation and transmission facilities in different regions.
After Saturday’s barrage, Ukraine’s air force said Sunday that air defenses had shot down all 25 drones launched overnight.
Russia claimed on Sunday that it had taken control of the village of Umanske in the partially Russian-occupied Donetsk region.
That of Russia coordinated new offensive focused on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkov region, but also appears to include testing Ukrainian defenses in Donetsk further south, while also launching raids in the northern Sumy and Chernihiv regions.
In Russia, six people were injured in shelling in the town of Shebekino in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Sunday. He also said that a local official, the deputy head of the Korochansky district, had been killed by “exploding ammunition.” He did not provide details.
In the neighboring Kursk region, three people were injured on Sunday when an explosive device was dropped from a drone, acting regional head Alexey Smirnov said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke at Asia’s most important security conference in Singapore accused China Sunday to help Russia defuse an impending crisis Peace conference organized by Switzerland about the war in Ukraine.
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