Russian Missiles Strike Ukrainian Cities, Causing Blackouts And Interrupting News Broadcasts

Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities caused significant disruptions on Monday, including blackouts and the interruption of news broadcasts. Explosions were reported in Kyiv, Lviv, Odessa, and several other cities, prompting air raid alerts across the country.

Missile and drone strikes battered Ukraine’s power grid, killing at least four people and forcing authorities to introduce emergency blackouts. Officials said 15 regions across the country were targeted in the aerial assault which began during the night and was the biggest in weeks.

The attacks come as Ukraine presses a major cross-border offensive into Kursk region, where Kyiv has been battling for nearly three weeks and claimed on Sunday to be advancing. “Russian terrorists have once again targeted energy infrastructure. Unfortunately, there is damage in a number of regions,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said.

State-owned electricity system operator Ukrenergo was forced to introduce emergency power cuts to stabilise the system following the barrage, while train schedules were disrupted. Explosions from what appeared to be air defences could be heard in the capital Kyiv early on Monday, while residents rushed to take shelter in metro stations.

The Russian defence ministry said it had struck energy infrastructure used to support Ukraine’s defence industry. Since invading in February 2022, Russia has launched repeated large-scale drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, including punishing attacks on energy facilities.

‘Massive rocket fire’

The attacks on Monday killed four people and wounded more than a dozen people across the country, officials said. The governor of the central Dnipropetrovsk region, Sergiy Lysak, said Russian forces had attacked “en masse.”

In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, the attack killed one civilian, local governor Ivan Fedorov said. In the western city of Lutsk, Russian bombardment damaged an apartment building and an infrastructure facility, killing one person and injuring five others, mayor Igor Polishchuk said.

Russia also attacked railway infrastructure in the northern Sumy region, injuring a man and damaging buildings, national operator Ukrainian Railways said. The attack targeted energy facilities across the country, including the southern Odesa region, the wider Kyiv region and the region of Lviv in the west of the country, authorities said.

(With agency inputs)