KYIV – Ukraine on May 6 said it had restored power to hundreds of thousands of people who lost electricity in overnight Russian strikes but warned of “urgent challenges” in maintaining the grid.

Moscow has intensified strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities, triggering blackouts and energy rationing across the country.

Around 400,000 households lost power in the north-eastern Sumy region after Russian forces struck high-voltage distribution lines, energy officials said.

The regional electricity operator later said all but around 15,000 homes had been reconnected to the grid.

Energy minister German Galushchenko later described the situation in Ukraine as “complicated” during a briefing with European Union energy commissioner Kadri Simson.

He also called on Ukraine’s allies to ramp up penalities on Russia’s energy sector, imposed by the West after Moscow launched the invasion in February 2022.

“The point is that sanctions against Russia should deprive it of any opportunity to be a player in the world markets, in the energy markets,” he said.

Russian attacks also cut power to consumers in the nearby region of Kharkiv, leaving 32,600 households without electricity in the morning, the Energy Ministry said.

The regions of Sumy and Kharkiv have seen an increase in strikes in recent months.

Ukrainian military officials have warned that Russia could be preparing a ground offensive in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions, which were partially occupied at the beginning of Moscow’s invasion.

Kyiv says Moscow is escalating attacks from the air and on land ahead of nationwide celebrations on May 9, when Russia marks victory in World War II, and while Ukraine awaits the arrival of crucial weapons supplies from the US. AFP