Russia launches massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine to cripple power grid

KYIV – Russia launched more than 100 missiles and around 100 attack drones at Ukraine during the morning rush hour on Aug 26, killing at least five people and striking energy facilities nationwide.

Power cuts and water supply outages were reported in numerous places, including parts of Kyiv, as officials said the attack – more than two years into Russia’s full-scale invasion – targeted power or other critical infrastructure in at least 10 regions.

Russia

dramatically stepped up its strikes on the Ukrainian power grid in March

in what Kyiv has said looks like a concerted effort to degrade the system ahead of winter when people need electricity and heating most.

The Aug 26 missile and drone salvo was Russia’s most intense in weeks, coming as Ukraine is claiming new ground in a

major cross-border incursion into Russia’s southern Kursk region

while Russian forces steadily inch forward in Ukraine’s east, closing in on the transport hub of Pokrovsk.

“It was one of the biggest combined strikes. More than a hundred missiles of various types and about a hundred Shahed drones. And, like most previous Russian strikes, this one is just as sneaky, targeting critical civilian infrastructure,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram.

According to Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, 15 regions sustained damage. Mr Zelensky said the energy sector has taken “a lot of damage”.

Top Kyiv officials urged for long-range strikes into Russia to be allowed.

Ukraine had no powerful long-range weapons at the start of the invasion, but it has since developed many models of long-range attack drones and used them to hit targets deep inside Russia, ranging from oil refineries to military airfields.

Over the weekend, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine has developed a new “drone missile” that has been used to attack Russia, and is more powerful and faster than other hardware in Kyiv’s arsenal.

Interfax news agency cited Russia’s Defence Ministry as saying on Aug 26 that its forces used high-precision weapons to strike important energy infrastructure in Ukraine that it said supported the military-industrial complex.

Damage reported

Poland’s military said its warplanes and those of its allies were put on alert after the Russian missile and drone assault, which struck western regions of Ukraine that border the Nato member state.

The regions with targeted power or critical infrastructure included Rivne and Volyn in the north-west, Khmelnytsky in the south-west, Zhytomyr in the north, Lviv in the west, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad and Vinnytsia in central Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia in the south-east and Odesa in the south.

At least seven of those regions have facilities that were hit or damaged, officials said.

Neighbouring Moldova, whose grid is linked to that of Ukraine, reported small disruptions to its power network.

In the north-eastern Sumy region, from where Ukraine launched its incursion into Russia on Aug 6, the authorities said a railway infrastructure facility was struck, but did not say which one or give further details.

A 69-year-old man in the Dnipropetrovsk region was among at least five people confirmed dead, local officials said. The others were in the regions of Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr and Volyn.

In Lutsk, an apartment block was damaged, the mayor said after reporting explosions.

Blasts also shook central Kyiv, and air defences could be heard engaging incoming targets on the outskirts of the capital.

The air force said Russia used 11 Tu-95 strategic bombers during the attack on Aug 26, as well as other weaponry.

Ukrainians have been expecting a major Russian missile attack for some time. The US embassy issued a warning last week of an elevated risk of attack around Ukrainian Independence Day, which

Ukraine marked on Aug 24.

Approximately 15 missiles and 15 drones targeting the capital of Kyiv were downed, Mr Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, wrote on Telegram.

Both Russia and Ukraine deny deliberately targeting civilians. Each says its attacks are aimed at destroying infrastructure critical to the other’s war effort. REUTERS