Russia launched major airstrikes on Ukraine in the early hours of Saturday, damaging power stations and killing at least three people.
About 458 drones and 45 missiles were launched, hitting targets near Kyiv as well as Dnipro and Kharkiv in the east and Poltava in the centre of the country.
An apartment block in Dnipro was damaged by a drone, killing two people and wounding 12. Another person was killed in the Kharkiv region, according to local officials.
The block of flats in Dnipro
MYKOLA SYNELNYKOV/REUTERS
MYKOLA SYNELNYKOV/REUTERS
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Emergency power cuts were imposed across the country for most of the day on Saturday as the state-owned energy company, Ukrenergo, struggled to maintain services.
Naftogaz, the largest Ukrainian oil and gas producer, said that Russia was “deliberately targeting enterprises that provide Ukrainians with gas and heat”.
The remains of a petrol station in Kharkiv region bombed by Russia
STRINGER/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES
More than 30 of the missiles were highly destructive ballistic missiles, the Ukrainian military said. Russian state media said it was the largest use of hypersonic Kinzhal “dagger” missiles since the start of the war.
Air raid sirens sounded throughout the country at various points between midnight and 6am. The sound of air defences shooting at targets overhead could be heard during the intervals.
Ukrainian media claimed 415 out of the 503 Russian weapons were shot down or suppressed.
Energy infrastructure was hit, including two thermal power stations in the Kharkiv and Dnipro regions. An oil and gas facility was hit in the Poltava region, alongside an administrative building and a railway depot.
Regional officials in Poltava said two cities, Kremenchuk and Horishni Plavni, which have a combined 250,000 residents, lost most of their electricity and were using generators to provide water.
Russian media said on Saturday that its forces “carried out a new combined strike on Ukrainian territory”, primarily targeting “thermal power plants, hydroelectric power stations and oil and gas enterprises”.
Moscow has regularly targeted power plants since the start of the invasion in 2022, particularly in the autumn. Naftogaz confirmed that Russia has attacked its gas facilities nine times in the past two months.
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President Zelensky has called for further sanctions on Russia. “For every Moscow strike on energy infrastructure aimed at harming ordinary people before winter, there must be a sanctions response targeting all Russian energy, with no exceptions,” he posted on the messaging app Telegram.
This latest offensive comes as Russian forces are poised to make a breakthrough in the eastern city of Pokrovsk. The city has become a key battleground as Moscow seeks to strengthen its grip on the Donetsk region.
Pokrovsk is a crucial industrial centre for coking coal, used in the production of steel. It is also a transport hub with road and rail connections leading to the cities of Donetsk and Kostyantynivka in the east and Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia to the west.
Firefighters at the scene of a Russian strike on a residential building in Donetsk region
STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES
Fighting inside the city has intensified this week after it was successfully infiltrated by Russian troops. Ukrainian officials maintain that operations stopping the Russian advance are continuing.
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Advances in Pokrovsk have come at a heavy cost to Vladimir Putin, taking more than 21 months, with significant casualties. President Zelensky said earlier this week that Russia had amassed close to 170,000 troops in the region to bolster the offensive against Pokrovsk.
Zelensky visited troops in the town this week and acknowledged “things were not easy” for them.