Russia Launches Major Drone Attack on Ukraine, Damaging Energy Infrastructure – Reuters

KYIV (Reuters) – Russian forces conducted a significant drone assault overnight, impacting 15 regions across Ukraine and causing damage to vital energy infrastructure as well as residential structures, officials reported on Thursday.

According to the Ukrainian air force, they intercepted 78 out of 105 Russian drones during the attack, with an additional 23 drones likely affected by active electronic jamming measures.

In the previous 24 hours, the drones caused damage to power lines and equipment at substations in the Kyiv, Odesa, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, as stated by Ukraine’s energy ministry via their messaging platform.

The assaults resulted in brief disruptions to railway services in the southern Odesa region and led to power outages for numerous households. Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper indicated that electricity had been restored to over 3,000 residents in his area after the overnight attack, although around 2,000 individuals remained without power.

Authorities reported that approximately 15 drones were intercepted over Kyiv and its vicinity during an air alert that lasted over five hours. Additionally, minor property damage was reported in the central regions of Poltava, Cherkasy, and Kirovohrad.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed its forces were targeting Ukrainian energy facilities that provided power for military operations, according to Russian state news agency reports.

Moscow contends that it does not intentionally target civilians but has frequently attacked towns and cities situated away from the front lines. In a recent incident, a guided bomb struck an apartment building in the eastern city of Kharkiv, igniting fires and injuring at least ten people.

More than two and a half years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has consistently targeted the country’s energy infrastructure with drone and missile strikes, while making steady advancements on the eastern front.

As winter approaches, the intensity of these strikes has increased, prompting Kyiv to urge allies to relax restrictions on the use of Western long-range weaponry to strike deeper into Russia and limit its attack capabilities.

On Thursday, the Ukrainian military announced it had utilized ATACMS ballistic missiles supplied by the United States to target a Russian radar station, aimed at diminishing Moscow’s ability to “detect, track, and intercept” ballistic targets. The military did not disclose the timing or specific location of the strike on the ‘Nebo-M’ radar station.