Russian strikes kill five in Ukraine, cause power outages

Ukrainian police officers stand next to a destroyed building at the site of an air attack in Lapaivka, Lviv region amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photo / AFP

Russian strikes on Sunday on Ukraine killed five people and badly damaged energy infrastructure, temporarily severing power supplies to tens of thousands and prompting neighbouring Poland to put ground defence on high alert.

Russia has stepped up strikes on energy networks, increasing fears Moscow would resume its widespread campaign of attacks on power facilities, which have plunged millions into darkness in past winters.

Russian forces fired 496 drones and 53 missiles at Ukraine, the majority of which were shot down, according to the Ukrainian air force.

“Russians are not even trying to conceal their true intentions. The overwhelming majority of targets were civilian objects and ordinary infrastructure,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address.

This was the largest attack of the war against the western region of Lviv, its governor, Maksym Kozytskyi, said.

Lviv lies in western Ukraine and is hundreds of kilometres from the front line, and has been largely spared the attacks that have hit cities further east.

“Near Lviv, an entire family of four was killed in their home, including a teenage girl,” Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said.

Emergency services released photos showing firefighters battling flames in a destroyed building, and helping elderly residents to safety.

Attacks also killed one person in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia and wounded people near the eastern front, local authorities said.

“Russia is openly trying to destroy our civilian infrastructure right now, before winter – our gas infrastructure, our power generation and transmission,” Zelenskyy said.

He blasted what he called “zero real reaction from the world” and urged for more sanctions against Russia.

The strikes cut power to over 110,000 subscribers across several regions, Ukraine’s emergency services said, with the hardest hit being Zaporizhzhia.

‘Gas, heat and light’

More than 73,000 people in Zaporizhzhia were left without electricity, regional head Ivan Fedorov said, though power had fully been restored by the evening.

Ukraine’s state-run gas company Naftogaz network also reported damage to its network.

“These maniacal terrorist strikes are aimed solely at one thing – depriving Ukrainians of gas, heat, and light,” Naftogaz CEO Sergii Koretskyi said.

The Russian army said it launched an attack “against enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine and gas and energy infrastructure facilities that ensured their operation”.

Russian attacks have also rattled Ukraine’s European allies after a spate of alleged Russian airspace violations into Europe.

Nato boosted its defences along its eastern borders throughout the month as it accused Moscow of testing the alliance’s air defences with drone incursions into several member states and by flying military jets in Estonian airspace.

Overnight Poland’s armed forces said on X that they had mobilised planes and put ground defences on high alert to secure the country’s airspace, especially in areas close to Ukraine.

Ukraine also said Russia was intensifying a campaign of airstrikes on its railway network in an attempt to isolate frontline communities before winter.

Russia launched drones at two passenger trains in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region on Saturday, killing one person and wounding dozens, according to Ukrainian officials.

-Agence France-Presse