Ukraine critical infrastructure hit in 'massive' Russian attack

KYIV: Ukrainian authorities in the west of the country said Wednesday that critical infrastructure facilities had been targeted in a “massive” Russian missile attack after air alerts sounded nationwide.

The apparent barrage came just one day after Ukraine said it had carried out its largest aerial attack on Russian territory of the nearly three-year war, hitting factories and energy hubs hundreds of miles from the front line.

“Critical infrastructure facilities were targeted in Prykarpattia,” the regional governor of the western Ivano-Frankivsk region wrote on social media.

“Air defence forces were working in the region,” the official, Svitlana Onyshchuk, said, adding there were no casualties and that the situation was “under control.”

Authorities in the western Lviv region, which borders EU and NATO member Poland, said two critical infrastructure facilities had been hit in the Drogobych and Stryi districts, without elaborating.

“Fortunately, there were no casualties, but there was damage,” governor Maksym Kozytsky wrote on social media.

The Ukrainian national grid operator meanwhile announced it was introducing emergency blackouts in seven regions including the eastern Donetsk region.

“Due to the massive attack, the transmission system operator is applying preventive restrictions,” Energy Minister German Galushchenko said of the shutdowns.

Separately, the governor of the eastern Donetsk region said that critical infrastructure had also been hit in his region over the last 24 hours, but did not specify when the strikes had occurred.

The mayor of the southern city of Kherson meanwhile said that “part of our community is without electricity” as a result of the overnight barrage, without giving figures of those without power.

Ukrainian authorities had earlier issued air raid alerts for the entire country, warning of incoming cruise missiles.

The warning said that missiles were headed towards the central city of Kryvyi Rig, the northern Chernigiv region, central Poltava region, and southern Mykolaiv region.

A “group of cruise missiles” was also headed in the direction of the capital Kyiv, the air force said.

Moscow has pursued a months-long bombing campaign against Ukrainian energy infrastructure claiming the attacks are targeted against facilities that aid Kyiv’s military.

The Russian military had accused Kyiv of using US- and British-supplied missiles for one of the strikes the previous day and promised it would “not go unanswered”.