Moscow launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure Friday, with a mass barrage of 99 drones and missiles hitting regions across the country, Ukraine’s armed forces said.
Large-scale blackouts have already affected Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv, where 700,000 people lost power after the city’s thermal power plant was hit in a drone and missile attack on March 22.In the winter of 2022-23, Russia targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing frequent blackouts. Many in Ukraine and the West expected that Russia might repeat that strategy this winter, but Russia instead initially focused its strikes on Ukraine’s defense industries.
Zelenskyy also warned that other countries would be threatened if the dams were hit. Dnister Hydroelectric station, located near the city of Novodnistrovsk, Ukraine, is approximately 15 kilometers from the border with Moldova. He later said that another man had been killed and one more injured in a separate drone attack Friday.